Mass Effect: An Eternal love
by Campbellim
Summary: She was the daughter of Aria T'Loak. She was supposed to be a strong cold woman, this was not the case. She was actually more fragile and lonely. She escaped Omega and went to be with her best friend. This decision landed her in the middle of a hunt for a rogue Spectre, a matriarch and a way to stop the end of all life. Liara/OC Miranda/Shepard(M)
1. Chapter 1

A/N: So this is the new revised Eternal Love first chapter. It takes the first three chapters and ties it into one long chapter. Now you'll notice certain things are missing from the original, for instance there is no indication the drug is still in my OC's system. That's because they aren't. Last time I dragged that on way to long. Next chapter we'll get to Feros and have that whole scene change. I've made some serious changes to the story plan. Also if you read Longing you'll see some romance between maleshepard and Miranda. That story isn't tied to this story completely, but that first chapter was an announcement to the revision of this. I'm not going to say it is the exact sex scene that will happen later on in this story, but it will be close. I'll probably add more to the one in this story then there is for that first one

Chapter 1:

Aria T'Loak was not someone you crossed if you wanted to live. She was someone who'd smile as her guards slit your throat for even a minor inconvenience. Thus, when hell froze over in Omega, Aria was sure to be the root cause. Afterlife a normally loud club was quiet for once, the dancers cowered in fear by their poles as Aria's biotics flared in anger. Her normally pristine couch was dotted with blood, and the glass around it had shattered.

"You lost her, how do you lose a child?" Aria shouted at her Batarian guard.

"You know how she is mother, she was always crafty. Even at her age her biotics are something to be feared." Liselle, Aria's daughter spoke up from beside her, coming to the guards aid.

"She is barely one hundred, you mean to tell me that even you couldn't stop your little sister from leaving?" Aria turned on Liselle her biotics tossing Liselle into the bloody couch.

"She planned it out well, we lost fifteen commandos, and three buildings trying to stop her from escaping." The Batarian Guard said. Aria was suddenly in front of the Batarian. Her hand wrapped around his throat choking him for a second before she threw him over her shoulder and into the back wall of Afterlife.

"Here's what is going to happen. You are going to find my daughter. You are going to bring her back here. If you do not, I'll kill every fucking Batarian on Omega. That clear?" Aria said. In an instant the guard was nodding and struggling to his feet.

"I'll go too, someone has to actually convince her to come home." Liselle said and the two walked out of Afterlife, and into the streets of Omega. Aria turned to the quiet chambers of Afterlife.  
"I'm not paying you all to piss yourselves. Get to fucking work." Aria shouted and the music restarted, and the dancers gripped their poles shaking not to tantalize, but instead with fear. Aria collapsed onto the bloody couch. Thoughts of her youngest daughter out there alone came to her and threatened to break the cold visage she wore. People didn't expect Aria to love, but there were two Asari, Aria loved with her whole life. Liselle and Ralia were all that Aria needed, more then Omega, more then the money she earned, more then anything in this galaxy. A smile from one of them melted her heart.

She wanted to take off of Omega and scour the galaxy for her daughter, but to do so would leave an assassins focused on her daughter. No if it was perceived that Aria was emotionally compromised assassins would go after her, and she'd kill them all. She trusted Liselle to bring her sister back to her mother, but more then that she trusted Ralia's skill to keep herself alive. If there was one thing she passed on to her children was her stubbornness to not die.

-Ilium-

One would expect the daughter of Aria T'Loak to be a hard ass, or cruel this was not the case for Ralia. She enjoyed the quiet Ilium provided; she enjoyed a book late at night. She enjoyed peace and quiet. It was for this reason she ran from her home on Omega. She needed to experience silence, wanted to experience something more then just being feared for her mother's name.

Her grays eyes scanned the crowd leaving the docks of Ilium, looking for her friend to come walking through. She had met her best friend on Thessia. Her mother had sent her to Thessia in order to on the request of an old friend of hers. The goal of the trip was to teach Ralia and the friend's daughter how to meld and avoid children, this did not go as planned. While they had melded the plan was for it to be a one-time thing. Just a single meeting instead the two exchanged contact information and consistently spoke to one another. When her friend ran from her mother Ralia set her up with a ship from Omega.

She smiled as a blue hand snuck its way into her purple hand. Her friend managed to sneak up on her, that's rare. Not many people could sneak up on her. Growing up on Omega made it clear that if you didn't know what was around you, you'd be killed quickly. This was even more so if you were Aria's daughter, by the time Ralia was fifty she had lived through three hundred different assassinations attempts.

"You're late, Li." Ralia said with a smile.

"Sorry Ralia I got a little distracted at my last dig." Liara said from beside her.

"Of course you did. You sat there looking at old shit while I blow up three buildings in Omega trying to get here." Ralia said, Liara was quickly pulling Ralia through the docks of Ilium.

"Well we have very different thoughts of what is fun."

"Now that's not true. I'm quite sad you think I enjoy blowing things up." Ralia said enjoying the way Liara started to apologize. Despite talking consistently for forty years, she still could make Liara embarrassed. It was a joy for Ralia.

"Honestly, you're lucky I'm such a kind soul otherwise I'd have left you to fend for yourself with your mother." Ralia said as they came to the ship Ralia gave Liara from Omega. It was a simple cruiser, meant for a single person. It was painted black with a light blue streak on the side. The door opened allowing the pair to step inside.

"I could just leave you here, you know." Liara said finally realizing that Ralia was messing with her.  
"You wouldn't leave me, you need me. So where we going?"

"Therum. I found a good site to dig. Most of it was already dug out, but I believe there is more deeper down." Liara said seating herself infront of the ships controls. A map of the distance from Ilium to Therum appeared on the display before her. It would take no time at all to get there, especially due to the Mass Relays dotting the distance. Ralia wandered around the small ship as Liara plotted their course. She found Liara's bed and smiled at the book at her bedside.

Ralia had sent her one of her favorite books as a present a few months back, it was a book written by a matriarch, detailing the belief that the Prothean extinction was a simple disease that swept through them. Ralia found it to be a terrible theory as that did not account for why it did not affect the budding sentient races. It had already been proven that the Prothean had documents on each of the current races of the galaxy so why did it not affect them. The book simply glossed over it saying that it was in relation to different DNA strands resulting in different affects the disease had on different races. If it hadn't been written by a learned Matriaich the document would have been thrown away as ramblings of the uneducated. Ralia loved reading that book just for the laughs as she read some of Liara's theories and they made more sense then the ramblings of this fool. But of course Liara's theories were thrown away and discredited on account of her age. That frustrated Ralia, as Liara was the smartest Asari, when it came to books, that Ralia knew.

She turned away from the book and smiled wider seeing the picture of the two of them on Liara's dresser. It was right after Liara ran from her mother, she had come to Omega to see Ralia. The two had hidden in Ralia's room laughing and giggling as they did the first time they had met. It was one of Ralia's precious memories of Liara and her together.

-Four weeks later Therum-

Ralia groaned as her biotics flared once more coming to life as they tore into a Geth. She was scared the Geth had been assaulting them for two days now and they were losing ground.

The dig had been going so well before, they had found a good location to start looking and were soon at an odd Prothean structure build into a volcano. It dug deep into the ground and even so much as into the lava pit of the volcano. That location had a blue barrier allowing the lava to form around the structure. It was also the place where they slept in. It was the most interesting room for Ralia as she loved the way the lava glowed against the blue barrier.

Now though she was scared that they'd be pushed back into that room, and knew that that'd be the kill zone if they were. So it was with that thought that Ralia put all her energy into reclaiming land lost, it wasn't going well. It didn't help that Liara was panicking as they lost ground. She was determined that she could spring a technology built by the Prothean that'd make a barrier infront of her. Of course this meant that Ralia had to hold the location alone while Liara fiddled with the controls for the barrier. Suddenly a squeak of surprise came from Liara and a barrier flared up behind Ralia. She looked back for a second and saw Liara floating in a bubble.

"What the fuck?"

"Wrong button." Liara said and then her eyes widened. Ralia turned back to see a Krogan's fist collide with her face. The punch sent her spiraling into the metal of the structure behind her. It dazed her and threw her to the ground. Her ears began to ring as her mind swam. A foot from the krogan stepped on her making her feel a few ribs break. She cried out in pain. Liara was shouting in fear, but she could not hear the conversation clearly. Something about her mother, and don't kill her was all that she could make out. Suddenly she was lifted to her feet and was facing the Krogan's face. Spit landed on her and she grimaced in pain as the Krogan's hand wrapped around her face. Her crests ached as the krogan's fingers dug around them, the hand tightened slowly crushing her nose. She screamed as it broke and blood began to pour from the broken nose. Finally mercy came to her and blackness took her vision.

-Two days later Liara-

Liara was terrified, the Krogan had taken Ralia with him, and had gone to find another way into the chamber Liara was in. Her mind reeled as the words the Krogan had said came back to her, 'Your mother wants to see you girly.' Her mother had sent them, had sent Geth? Why were Geth beyond the Veil? More importantly why were Geth working for her mother. Fear gripped her heart as voices echoed down the chamber. They did not seem to sound like the Krogan and so she called out.

"Hello out there! Can you please help me?" Liara yelled and soon she was met with A krogan, a human and a Turian? The human was a dark haired man. He stood infront of the other two, an N-7 on his armor. Liara vaguely recalled Ralia talking about the N-7 of the human military, they were supposed to be the best of the best.

"Dr. Liara T'Soni I presume? My name is James Shepard, I'm a Spectre from the Council, we wanted to talk to you about your mother." the gentle voice of the human called to her. Liara watched the Krogan carefully hoping that this wasn't a trap.

"Yes, that's me. Please can you get me out of here?" Liara said

"Oi, Asari what about Benezia?" The Krogan said

"I'm sure the Asari was going to answer that shortly." The turian spoke up

"My mother? What about her? I haven't spoken to her in awhile. Besides whatever these Geth are doing here she sent them."

"How do you know she sent them?" The human, Shepard, said his hazel eyes narrowing

"They had a krogan, he told me. Oh goddess, look we need to find him. He took my friend with him when he left. They want to get me too. Please we need to get her out of there."

"Any ideas T'Soni?"

"The release for the barrier I'm in is next to me. You'd need to find a way into the chamber I'm in. Please hurry." Liara called

"Don't worry. We'll get you out of there." The human said and the three companions turned away from Liara. She wasn't quite sure what to think of the three, but if the human was actually a Spectre then they had the best chance to deal with the Krogan.

-Short while later-

Liara watched in fear as the Krogan came slowly walking up to them. There beside him with a chain around her neck was Ralia. She had been stripped bare, black splotches dotted her frame, her eyes had black rings, the location around her crests were black, her sides were black. The worst was her hands, they had been bent back, to the point her fingers could nearly touch her elbow. She wanted to run forward and grab Ralia and pull her into her arms. Tears pooled in her eyes as Ralia was thrown to the ground as the Krogan pulled a gun out. Soon fighting erupted around her, but she didn't care she ran to her friend. When she reached Ralia she erected a barrier around the two and tried to get Ralia's attention. Ralia wouldn't look at her, she just watched in fear as the Krogan who had captured her fell. The entire room shook.

"Joker get us out of here now!" The human called and the barrier around Liara and Ralia fell. Liara pulled at Ralia to get her to her feet, but Ralia collapsed. The three that had saved Liara were soon at her side, and the Krogan was bending to collect the fallen Ralia. A scream came from Ralia as the Krogan touched her. A hand from the human stopped the Krogan and instead the Turian bent to collect Ralia. Liara watched tears falling from her eyes as they ran. As soon as they were on the humans ship they were directed to MedBay. The journey was short but torturous for Liara. Ralia was quiet, her eyes devoid of emotion and just staring blankly ahead as the Turian, Garrus, carried her. The humans of the ship stared at the Naked Asari, sadness emanating from their eyes. For now they just had to deal with Ralia's injuries in MedBay.

-Commander's Quarters-

James sighed as he watched his door turn from green to red, it had been a long day for his crew and it was sure to get worse soon. His omintool lit up as a message came through. He flipped it open smiling at the name, Perfection. She was a friend he had met through a sort of conversation website, some people used it as a hookup site, and he had once used it as such. Then he met the user Perfection and well he had found a friend he didn't need to know much about to enjoy spending time with. She and him spoke of gene therapy, spoke about the merits of integration of humans into other species lifestyles, she was against that, but did not appear to be xenophobic about it. In most cases he found that she was someone he could have an intellectual conversation about anything he so chose. He read the message again smiling at the topic.

"What do you think of this human spectre business? It seems to be a throw away from the council. Wouldn't be surprised if the Spectre was used as a scapegoat for any mistakes."

"I wouldn't say that, I think the man will find a way to make things work. It's a big step for humanity, if he can prove himself well enough then humanity will go from being a lower class species into being one of the main. I mean Spectres are chosen from council races, the fact that humanity isn't a council race and has a Spectre is a big step." He wrote to her, his nickname popping up below hers, HSpacerH. It was ssilly nickname he had made when he was sixteen and had first started this website. He hadn't ever seen a reason to change it.  
"You think he'll do a good job?" She responded almost instantly to him. She always did type a lot faster then he did, must have been because of her job as a Secretary for Synthetic Insights.

"I believe so."

"Then we just have to hope he makes a good show for humanity."

"So how's work?"

"Rough as always. I swear if someone else stares at my breasts when they come to my desk I'm going to kill them."

"Oh, please don't cause more work for me."

"Don't worry I won't kill anyone on the Citadel, so C-Sec won't have to get involved."  
"Good. Hey I'd love to talk more, but I got a long day tomorrow, got drills to run, need sleep."

"Alright. Talk to you later."

"See you." James signed out he slid his omnitool off his hand and undressed. He slipped into his private shower enjoying the way the water poured off of him. His thoughts drifted to the two Asari he just picked up, he hoped they'd be ok.

-MedBay-

It was seven hours later that Dr. Chakwas left the med-bay to report the condition of the young Asari. In the four hours that Dr. Chakwas had worked the Asari Liara T'Soni had been integrated into the crew and while she wasn't talking to anybody she had a vested interest in the condition of her friend. This meant that the moment the doctor had left the med-bay; Liara was at her side and asking questions of her friend. Chakwas had refused to specify until she had spoken to the Commander. It was for this reason that the doctor and Liara were standing in the Shepard's chambers as Shepard filed a quick report to the council of the current situation regarding his investigation.

"Commander, the Asari you brought in is stable. Her injuries were severe, two of her ribs were broken, her crests were severely bruised, her nose has been reset, both her legs were broken, and it would appear she has a concussion. My medical expertise might be lacking on the Asari signals for concussions, but her eyes aren't responsive and seem to have darkened. There was no indication of any penetration." Dr. Chakwas listed off to Shepard. As she spoke Liara's eyes began to widen upon realizing just how damaged her friend actually was. It was Chakwas' statement about Ralia's eyes that scared Liara the most though.

"How dark were Ralia's eyes? Were they black?"

"Yeah."

"That's a meld. Ralia is forcing her body to prepare to meld with someone. Do not let anyone touch her skin directly. If you do you'll be forced into a meld with her. Also it might be best to take a tox-screen. If my assumption is correct then she has been drugged. An Asari doesn't just spend her time in a meld without a partner nearby." Liara said her voice quiet. She was uncomfortable talking about what could have happened to her friend, but if her assumption was right then Ralia was a danger to herself and to others.

Dr. Chakwas nodded and turned to leave the room and Liara followed her hoping to check on Ralia. The journey was short and the two stood before Ralia's unconscious form. The medical staff had redressed her in a hospital gown giving the Asari some form of decency. Dr. Chakwas soon set about drawing blood from Ralia while Liara watched impatiently.

"You know Dr. T'Soni in all my years as a medical officer I have never dealt with Asari physiology. What exactly does this drug do to Asari? Dr. Chakwas said quietly

"If I am correct then the drug she was given is one we Asari use at the start of our melding experiences. It forces our bodies to produce Eezo at an increased rate. When a young Asari needs to be taught how to meld to prevent pain for the partner and for herself, she is given this drug and is guided by a matriarch in her first meld."

"So it isn't a bad thing?" Dr. Chakwas said moving to a small machine to the far left of the med-bay. The machine would run the blood and detect any anomalies; given that it was set to human blood it'd show several anomalies. It was Liara's own intelligence that the two would be relying on to see if there was in fact an increase in Eezo production.

"It becomes dangerous after an Asari has already learned how to meld without it. It can cause a need for a meld in the Asari; this tends to mean they reach for whoever can satisfy that need. From what I understand it is used in seedier places to make Asari more responsive to sexual acts." Liara said turning away

"So it's a rape drug?"

"To an extent, that's why if you permit it once she is cleared and the tox-screen shows an increase in Eezo, move her somewhere where no one will bother her. I'll go in and take care of the drug in her system."  
"Take care of the drug? How?"

"She needs to purge it from her system. Physical or mental exhaustion will cause the drug to be sweated out of her system. I will allow her to meld with me." Liara said her blush deepening. Dr. Chakwas turned to Liara in shock, from what she understood she was being asked to allow her injured patient to engage in sexual activities in order to purge a drug.

"Dr. T'Soni, you are asking me to allow my patient to engage in a strenuous activity despite her injuries. She can't move around at this point.

"She won't have to. I'll guide her through a meld with me; make her assume the meld was fulfilled to the point that her body requires. If all goes as planned I will only have to touch her head. It is either you allow me to do this or you wait till she can move around and she finds the first person willing to meld with her. I ask you to help me preserve my friend's dignity." Liara said her eyes welling up as she looked at her unconscious friend.

Dr. Chakwas stared at the pair. She hated the idea of what was going on. She didn't want to allow this, but if Liara was to believed then this wasn't just a matter of healing a patient this was about preserving something for a patient. She didn't want the Asari on the bed to be exploited even if she didn't particularly like the Asari culture. Dr. Chakwas always felt that on some level the Asari contributed to stereotypes about women, but no one deserved to be treated as nothing more then a sex slave.

"Fine, I'll make sure no one bothers you once she awakens." Dr. Chakwas said begrudgingly. Her attention then turned to the slowly printed results of the tox-screen. After a quick discussion with Liara it was proven that there was a major increase in how much Eezo was coursing through her system. There was more then what would be associated with a normal Asari's blood. While she wasn't likely to wake anytime soon the moment Dr. Chakwas had Ralia moved to the backroom in the med-bay. From there Liara sat and monitored her best friend.

Ralia remained in an unconscious state for the next day; during that time most of her bones mended themselves. Due to Asari physiology they have an increased regeneration rate combining this with the medical technology on board the Normandy it meant that she'd be fight ready in as little time as week. This meant that she was capable of moving when she awoke, but she was confined to bed rest. So when her eyes opened Liara was moving to her immediately. Black eyes met blue and in an instant Ralia was moving. Her hands wrapped around Liara's torso rubbing slightly at the bundle of nerves on her lower back. This elicited a sharp intake of breath from the Asari.

"Dr. Chakwas, she's awake. Lock the door from your side." Liara called as her eyes slowly shifted to black.

-With Dr. Chakwas-

Dr. Chakwas heard the call from Liara and enabled the locking mechanism on the door. Almost as soon as the door had locked there was a crash from the room and rather loud groan. The doctor reached into her desk and pulled out two small red rubber plugs and quickly stuffed them into her ears to muffle the sound from the room. She turned to the paperwork at her desk and continued her work trying to forget about what exactly was going on in the room behind her.

-With Liara and Ralia-

Things had quickly gone downhill for Liara, with the medical technology on the Normandy forcing the decline of muscle degradation and the short period it took for Ralia to be able to move she was quickly being overpowered by Ralia. Ralia had always stressed the need to be fit and to not rely solely on the powers of her biotics. It was for this reason that Liara found herself being pushed against the wall of the small room they shared. A knee ground itself into her core as fingers caressed in-between her crests gently stroking the tips. It resulted in Liara finding herself slowly losing the battle for a strictly intellectual meld.

Fingers pulled at the zipper of her cloths and soon Liara found herself stripped. A finger grazed over her core eliciting a moan from Liara. For a moment Liara found herself desiring the meld that was slowly making its presence into her body. Her biotics sprung to life in response as she fought that desire. Ralia was quickly pushed off and pushed against the wall. Sweat was slowly making its presence known on the incensed Asari's skin. Black eyes met and Liara grabbed Ralia's head and allowed a meld to occur. She guided the drugged Asari into the meld coercing her wants into something she could use. She stemmed the lust forcing itself into Ralia's rationality and felt the fear emanating from her friend. She found herself cradling her best friend within the meld as memories of the torture she suffered from the Krogan in the two days she was captured. She felt the heat of the pool of lava Ralia was dangled over as the Krogan injected the drug into her body. She felt Ralia's fear as she felt her desire overcome her. She saw Ralia's decision to separate herself from her body and lose herself in an internal meld. Liara's head lit up in pain as the meld was forcibly broken.

Gray eyes met blue as Liara collapsed to her knees and her biotics failed her. Ralia reached down to help Liara to her feet, but stopped fear overcoming her. She could see the naked flesh of her friend and the knowledge that she was the reason her friend looked that way threatened to destroy her. With quick strides Ralia made her way to where Liara's clothes lay discarded on the floor and she passed them to the now risen Liara. Liara slipped her clothes on as Ralia refused to look at her. Sadness broke into Liara's thoughts as she could see the suffering Ralia was going through. Liara stepped forward and knocked loudly on the door before shouting.

"Dr. Chakwas you can let us out now." Liara called and waited for the door to open. It took awhile before the door opened and they were met with both Dr. Chakwas and Commander Shepard.

"Commander, what are you doing here?" Liara asked shocked

"Dr. Chakwas alerted me to the situation and I decided it best for me to be here to meet our new crewmate. I am Commander Shepard of the Normandy, first human spectre." Shepard said extending a hand to the gray-eyed Asari. Ralia faltered and did not raise a hand to shake Shepard's outstretched hand.

"I'm Ralia T'Loak. It is nice to meet you Commander Shepard. I'd like to thank you for saving me from the Krogan. Also I'd like to extend the same thanks to you Doctor. As I saw if not for you I'd still be heavily injured." Ralia said bowing her head.

"I fear I must impose on you once more. I'd like it if I could have somewhere to rest. I find myself tired." Ralia continued

"We'll allow you to rest once you answer some questions. Sorry about this. First off what exactly happened? When we found you, you where nonresponsive, and freaked out when a friend of ours touched you."

"Ralia pulled herself from her body and forced a meld into her own subconscious. Essentially when you first met her she was acting on instincts. If I had to guess her body was telling her Krogan meant pain." Liara answered when Ralia's gaze lowered to the ground.

"And the fact you allowed a Turian touch you? That was also instinct?"

"My father was a Turian." Ralia responded still looking at the ground.

"How does that even work?" Shepard asked. He had never truly looked into Asari physiology or how Asari reproduce all she did know was that rumors suggest the Asari slept with anything and anyone.

"Asari can reproduce with any creature provided they are sentient. Child bearing for Asari is not something limited to genetics it is limited to intelligence." Ralia responded yawning into her hand

"Commander, please we can finish the interrogation later. My patient needs more rest." Dr. Chakwas intervened in the conversation.

"Alright, come get me the moment she awakens."

"Commander Shepard, where are Liara and myself being dropped off?" Ralia spoke up

"You aren't. Liara is staying on the Normandy for the duration of our investigation. The one who sent the Geth after you was her mother. This ship might just be the safest place for both of you." Shepard said before He turned on his heels and left the med-bay. The room was silenced as Ralia was directed to one of the medical beds. Liara had followed her closely watching as her best friend attempted to swing her aching body onto the bed. When Liara had tried to help Ralia had recoiled from her touch. In the end Liara was left on the side as Dr. Chakwas assisted Ralia into her bed. The moment Ralia's head touched the bed her eyes were closed and slowly her breath evened out.

To the outside it would seem Ralia was asleep, but in truth Ralia was meditating her thoughts drifting to the way she touched Liara. She had essentially just almost raped her best friend. She felt the need to vomit at the thought that she could have hurt her best friend. She was scared of that desire returning to her. She could still feel the want to touch Liara in her mind, and she had to push it down. She couldn't touch Liara like that. She couldn't hurt her best friend again. A single decision came to her in the depths of her meditation, in order to subdue those desires she'd have to never touch Liara again. In the silence of the med-bay Ralia found herself fighting the desire to cry her self to sleep.

-Citadel-

Aria growled lowly as the doors from her small cruiser opened allowing her and Liselle onto the Citadel. The docking permit they were given was to a special dock that served as a high danger criminal pickup zone. It was fully encased in metal, metal doors closing behind her ship permitting no easy escape, with approximately twenty-three turrets sticking out of the walls aiming directly at Aria and Liselle. From her ship two more Asari came out, these two where her most trusted Commandos, and were the ones she sent into dangerous zones. They had never failed to bring results, and in a situation like this she needed them by her side. The council had made no demands for her to come alone, and she'd take her chance to bring her strength forward. She was met on the dock with several C-Sec officers she was sure that one or two of the five before her must have been disguised Spectres, but there was no way to be sure just yet. For now she'd have to go along with them, but Aria was confidant she still held the cards especially over Tevos. A grin came to her face, Tevos was easy to manipulate, bring a romantic attachment in and she crumbles. It was the way she took the council down before, and this time she has her own daughter to use against Tevos. No she knew Tevos would bow to save her daughter, and Aria would walk away with both her children at her side. The trip to the council chamber was quiet, the streets of the Presidium were unnaturally empty, but she could see blinds closing as she neared windows. No one wanted to look upon the Pirate Queen of Omega, even this far from Omega she still brought fear with her.

Aria stopped on the overhang that acted as the speaking platform for Spectre's, and dignitaries visiting the council. Her hands folded to her back as Liselle stood beside her. Her two commandos made up directly behind each of them. This was so if a sniper awaited from behind them the commandos could take the shot for their leaders. This wasn't of the most help given the open alcoves to either side of Aria, but it was simple for her to call up a barrier to protect the sides of her head.

"Aria T'Loak for two hundred years you have held the Citadel under your financial control, that changes now." The Turian councilor started.

"For Two hundred years you have shot up the prices of goods and lowered their quality, that changes now."

"For Two hundred years Aria T'Loak you have been feared in Council Space, that changes now."

"Look at you three so smug thinking you've won. Two hundred years ago I brought the council to its knees, two hundred years ago you kneeled to me Tevos. Kneel Tevos and this time I won't kill the councilors to remind you of your place. Return my daughter to me and we will go in peace with no bloodshed. Bow to me and there will be peace. Do not, and you will learn my law once more." Aria snarled out

"I wouldn't be so confidant Aria T'Loak. You think you are in control here? Not anymore." Tevos said raising her right hand and from the alcove to Aria's right and left snipers of the three council races appeared. Sixteen snipers in total, a fraction of the number of Spectres the Council had under their thumb, The question was where were the others, Tevos wouldn't be as confidant as she was if this was all they had.

"Come now Tevos, would you really fire on us? After all Liselle is here. Would you kill our daughter?" Aria said grinning at the shocked faces on the two councilors. Liselle's shock was a minor price to pay for the anger seeping from Tevos at that moment.

"Yes Liselle is here, how cunning thinking to play on my love to get your way. As I recall you stated two hundred years ago she is not my daughter though. It is regrettable to lose my genetic daughter, I'll just take Ralia from you."

"What?"

"As of two nights ago, the Asari Matriarch Society agreed upon removing your right to name Ralia your daughter, and has passed that right to me. After all a daughter born without documentation on Thessia is free claim according to Asari Law." Tevos said smirking as Aria grabbed at the gun at her waist.  
"I would not be so hasty dear Aria. You want to kill me? So sad it'd cost you your daughter's life to do so. The Spectre keeping her is told to kill her if each councilor here does not send a message to them within the next hour."

"You gave this council some advice earlier Aria, let us return the favor. Bow to us and there will be peace. Bow to us and you can return to Omega to live out the rest of your days." The Turian Councilor spoke up

"Keep the prices of our goods low and the quality high and there will be peace." The Salarian councilor said

"And most of all you will learn a new rule specifically for you."

"You know I will get my daughter back right? I will get my revenge." Aria said her teeth grinding together in anger

"We know you will try, but we figure we only have to keep you away from her for two hundred more years before age catches up to you and you waste away." The Turian Councilor said with a smirk

"Bow Aria." Tevos said grinning at the anger seeping from Aria. It felt good to get her revenge on Aria. Two hundred years ago Aria broke her heart, and threw her into a state of panic. She nearly lost the trust of Citadel Space because of Aria. This would go a long way in reclaiming her glory.

Aria growled angered by losing control of the meeting, she could fight it, but she'd lose her daughter and her own life. Slowly Aria bent at the waist lowering herself before the council, her teeth clenched as shame filled her body. She shot up quickly turning away from the council so as to not see the glee on their faces.

"Are we done here?" Aria grunted out

"Yes, You may leave Pirate Queen." Tevos said grinning as she watched Aria's hand clench.  
"I will get my vengeance. You will learn not to fuck with Aria." Aria said before she was escorted back down to her ship. The walk was silent once more, anger coursing through her veins as the C-sec operatives walked before and behind her. She wanted to throw them into the lakes of the Presidium and light up the Citadel in flames, but controlled herself; no she'd get her vengeance another way. She slipped onto her ship and was met with a single message shot into the wall of her own private bedroom

 _Don't Fuck with The Council._


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Surprised no one mentioned it, but Ralia and Liara are Anagrams of each other. Just a little thing I thought was funny. This chapter is really short because originally I was going (and did) write the next mission (Noveria) in but I found that that mission needed to be a separate chapter as it's going to be beefy. So this chapter was made to just get the cracks in the relationship with Liara and Ralia going. Next chapter will be on Liara's feelings and then switch back to the standard following of Ralia. We'll also have another contact with "Perfection" in next chapter. We have three-four more chapters in ME1 and then we'll get to the two year period between Shepard's death and revival. When ME2 starts we'll be focusing on Shepard with very little focus on Ralia. Ralia and Liara's story will continue in ME2, but it won't be foreground.

I hope you enjoy, and please review it helps me know what I need to improve on/if my story is being well received or not. I want to answer some reviews, but since they are all guests I'll do it at once

Guests:I did drag out the drugging to long in the first version (hence the rewrite). Hell will come down once Ralia and Aria meet again. Expect that to happen soonish.

Ragna: Glad you are enjoying it

Chapter 2: Pureblood

Asari by nature were tactile beings, it was seemed an oddity if two Asari did not touch within minutes of greeting one another. It could almost be seen as an insult, stating that the other unclean or unworthy of touching your person. This was something Liara was accustomed to having happen to her. She was a pureblood, some would call her a disease. She had never had it happen with Ralia though, Ralia was always more willing to touch Liara then any other Asari besides her own mother. So when Ralia avoided extending their morning greeting Liara knew something was wrong with her.

Ralia was vexed by Liara's constant presence by her side, she had already resigned herself to pushing away from Liara, but it was getting exceedingly difficult. It did not help that Liara had seemed hurt by her avoiding their morning ritual. Asari friends, and loved ones greet their companions with a hug and a kiss on each cheek every morning. It was a way of reconciling their absence through the night. A way of saying I greet you with the dawn. It was an incredible insult for an Asari to ignore this ritual, especially when the partner that would receive is a fellow Asari. It essentially told the other Asari, I do not feel your presence. Ralia had hoped Liara would take the hint, but throughout the day Liara continued to stand by her, she may have found it flattering but it was not what Ralia needed. She needed her separation. It was for this reason that long after Liara had fallen asleep did Ralia leave their joined room. She slipped into the mess hall hoping to find somewhere to hide out for the night and be alone. Instead she was met with the Quarian of the crew sitting at the table looking over a datapad. She sat across from the Quarian. They sat in relative silence until the Quarian looked up and put down her datapad.

"Liara right?"

"No I'm Ralia."

"Oh I'm sorry. I just I've never seen Liara or you before and the crew tends to just call you blue Asari or purple Asari, so I wasn't sure which was which and."

"It's ok, I don't even know your name so I can't be angry at you for getting mine wrong now can I?" Ralia said a smile on her face.

"Oh I'm Tali'zorah Nar Rayya."  
"Good to meet you Tali'zorah Nar Rayya."

"Please just Tali."

"Alright, Tali. What brings you here so late?"

"Can't sleep. It's to quiet here."

"To quiet? Never heard someone complain about that before."

"Well quiet on the flotilla means a vent is broken, or the engines are failing. All bad signs. You really don't want to ignore the quiet and find yourself dying from a disease. When you are being raised on the flotilla the Captain of your vessel will cut all sound to your room. Everytime you didn't wake up you were reprimanded. You learn quickly being denied communication for a week for every mistake."

"So it's become habit for you to wake up when it's quiet."

"Yes. What about you?"

"Finding it a little hard to sleep in my room."

"Oh Staying up late talking with Liara? I'd love to share a room and talk with someone. It'd be just like back on the flotilla watching movies with my friends."

"I could come by your bunk and we can talk. Liara won't mind. She likes reading late at night and I tend to talk to much for her." Ralia said a grin coming to her face. She sincerely hoped the Quarian agreed to this, it'd make thing significantly easier for her. Nothing was going to make the feelings she bore for Liara disappear faster, she had been in love with her for almost twenty years, and had never moved on past it. She wanted to, goddess did she want to, but it wasn't easy. It was made worse by having Liara so close to her now.

"Oh that'd be nice." Tali said before standing.

"I should really try and get some sleep. We're supposed to land on Feros tomorrow and I'd like to be rested." Tali said and she left the mess hall. Ralia sat in the mess hall in silence until the call for the morning shift to start and the night crew slipped into their bunks for some well deserved rest. The mess sergeant had nodded to her as he began to prepare food for the crew. Liara slipped into the chair beside her, her hand grabbed at Ralia's but Ralia pulled away.

"Raly? What's wrong?" Liara said finally tired of Ralia's avoidance of her.

"Nothing's wrong Liara." Ralia said refusing to turn to Liara.

"There's something wrong. You won't touch me. Are you ashamed of what happened after Therum?"

"Liara-"

"You have no reason to be ashamed I knew you weren't in control of yourself. I know you'd never do that if you weren't drugged."

"Liara.-"

"You don't have to be ashamed of it. I wanted to help my best friend."

"Nothing is wrong Liara."  
"Don't lie to me." Liara said her voice rising. Ralia found herself getting frustrated, why couldn't Liara just back down

"You want to know what's wrong Liara?" Ralia said shouting. She could feel the eyes on her, could see Shepard looking at them from the door to his quarters, could see Tali looking at her, but she found herself unwilling to back down.

"Yes. I want to know."  
"I'm disgusted that I touched you."

"Because of the drug."

"No."

"Because I'm pureblooded?" Liara asked her voice low. Ralia found herself to shocked by Liara's accusation to respond. She knew Liara was always self conscious of her parentage, but she never thought Liara would believe someone wouldn't want her because of that.

Liara waited for an answer from Ralia, and when none came Liara felt her heart break. Her best friend was ashamed of her. She was just like every other Asari, disgusted by the Pureblood that Liara was. Tears stung at her eyes as she stood.

"I'm sorry Ralia. You-you don't have to pr-pretend to be my friend anymore." LIara said before walking quickly out of the mess hall. Slowly the crew returned to normal procedures, they all tried to pretend that there wasn't an incident just now, all except for one.

"Are you ok?" The voice of Tali brought Ralia out of her stupor.

"I'm fine. Why?" Ralia said a fake smile coming to her face. She hoped Tali would believe her, but Tali reached out, gloved hand capturing Ralia's.

"Liara seemed upset, and you have sat here for twenty minutes in silence. You aren't fine."

"It-it's not important."

"We are landing on Feros, Tali'zorah Nar Rayya and Urdnot Wrex you are expected on the bridge." Shepard's voice came through the P.A. and Tali stood to leave.

"Come talk to me tonight." Tali said before turning and exiting the room.

Ralia found herself looking longingly at the door to the med-bay. She wanted to go talk to Liara, but what could she say? I don't hate you because you're a pureblood? If she said that Liara would ask why she wouldn't touch her and Ralia wouldn't be able to answer. Ralia shook her head, as painful as it was; it was best if Liara believed she was disgusted with her. She stood from her spot in the mess hall and took the elevator down to where the workout room was. It was best if she just sweated out her frustration.


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: It's tough to use pronouns when doing a scene with Ralia and Liara… Her and her, she and she. Seriously…

So I did say this was going to be a long chapter, and it is nearly 6k. It was hard to write the scene with Benezia, as I wanted to deviate quite a bit, but also wanted to stick to canon for ME1 so in the end I did a bit of both. Cut some words from Benezia, and added some others. I hope you enjoy the scene with Miranda in this. Perfection will come up in next chapter (If it wasn't obvious perfection was Miranda it will be next chapter). Also the talk with Tali will come next chapter. Next chapter is Virmire, and Ilos. After that is the fight with Soverign followed by a short explanation of the three months before Shepards death. We'll be getting to ME2 soonish. (Just have to do some stuff with Liara Ralia, Feron, and that whole bit. I made some adjustments to that whole bit to make it work more for my story.

Now I was avoiding calling biotics by their ME names and instead explain what they did, but there is one that might be hard to know what it is. I'm going to say it here, Ralia uses Reave. (I made that a violent power).

Chapter 3: Family

Liara walked quickly from the mess hall tears stung at her eyes as she brushed past Dr. Chakwas. How had things gone like this? She was happy thinking Ralia was her best friend, and the only Asari she knew besides her mother that didn't see her as a disease. She was something special to Liara. Something more then just special, someone she wanted to spend a life with. It perturbed Liara the way she felt for Ralia, but her mother had once said we have no control over who we love, but all we can do is love them the best we can. She had held onto that truth from her mother and had tried to love Ralia as best she could. She was ok with knowing Ralia would never love her, so long as she could be near her. Not for a moment did she ever think Ralia would be disgusted by what she was. When she was younger and had first met Ralia, she had told her that it did not matter if she was pureblooded. That she genuinely enjoyed spending time with her, learning about her, learning new things with her. It had made Liara so happy knowing that someone cared for her. It had filled her with hope when she was young, made her strive to be the best she could be. In some ways Ralia's acceptance of her parentage made Liara who she was, and now that is was clear Ralia despised her for it was all that she was a lie?

She found herself crying into the sheets of her queen-sized bed. She found herself hating her mother for giving birth to her, hating Ralia for pretending to be her friend, hating Shepard for saving her on Therum. Most of all she found herself wishing she was born Ardat-Yakshi, at least then she'd be sent away from everybody and never have met Ralia. She'd never have experienced the bitter taste of love unfulfilled, never have felt betrayal. She'd have died young or been locked away forever, both were preferable to what she had now.

She was sick of people hating her for something she no control over. She thought Ralia was better then that, but it would appear she was wrong. Anger bubbled in Liara's heart as she thought of the time she spent with Ralia. Her eyes flittered to the book on her bedside table. A book of memories of their friendship, it was something she was putting together for Ralia. A collection of pictures of the two, she had read humans used to do this as a way of collecting memories. It seemed appropriate for her to make a book out of their memories; especially given most of their memories were through books.

Liara threw herself from the bed to her feet grabbed the book off her nightstand and walked out the door. She'd get an answer from Ralia. Why did she pretend for so long to be friends? Forty years of their lives were spent pretending they were friends, more then a third of the life they've lived were as friends. What was the gain from pretending for so long? There was only one place Ralia would be, the training room on the bottom of the Normandy, she always would go work out when she was frustrated. Liara bounced on her feet as the elevator descended. She could faintly hear the call from Joke stating that Commander Shepard had returned, could faintly hear the sounds of the crew walking around as she made her way to where Ralia would be. The door opened quickly and there in the far corner of the room was Ralia. Ashley was in the room as well. Liara brought her biotics forth and sent Ralia spiraling into the wall. She pulled back on the usage to just stun her rather then actually harm her best friend. She washed as Ashley turned to her shock evident on her face. Her biotics flared oncemore pulling Ashley to her as she got close Liara rotated around and opened the door behind her. She gently placed Ashley outside the door.  
"Give us the room please?" Liara said a smile on her face before she closed the door.

"By the Goddess what are you doing Liara?" Ralia shouted.

"Forty years. Forty years you pretended to be my friend. Heck you and I melded once before. So why now are you disgusted?" Liara said stepping forward until she was right in Ralia's face. Ralia pulled back, refusing to look at her.

"Cause you're pureblood."

"Don't lie. You wouldn't have exchanged morning greetings with me if that was the reason. I'm sick of this Ralia. You were my friend, the only one I trusted. The only one who didn't make me hate myself. So why?" Liara yelled grabbing Ralia's cheeks with her free hand and forcing her to look at her.

"Liara-"

"I've been trying to figure it out. All these memories I collected of you, of our friendship I wouldn't trade them for anything, even the greatest land on Thessia, even the biggest Prothean find of our history. Everything I wanted was there in those memories, I had a friend." Liara said throwing the book at Ralia's feet.

"So tell me Ralia, do I mean nothing to you." Liara said letting go of Ralia's face. Ralia bent down to collect the book her hands glossing over the printed pictures that had fallen out. Her fingers gently touched one of the pictures, it was just after Liara had gotten to Omega after leaving her mother. They had taken the picture in the apartment her mother had given her.

"Liara. What do you want me to say? You don't mean nothing to me, but-"

"Then why do I disgust you."

"You don't."

"You said it yourself you were disgusted that you touched me. Why?"

"I-"

"Why?" Liara shouted

"Because I wanted to touch you again. I wanted to touch you again and again." Ralia whispered lowly, but Liara picked it up.

"I wanted to be with you Liara, and I knew you'd never want that. You were abused for your parentage. I wanted to be with you, to sire children with you, and I knew you'd never allow that. Never allow your child to be abused like you were." Ralia said her voice rising.

"Ralia-"

"Don't Liara I know you're answer. Please promise me we'll at least be friends. I can't promise my feelings will change, but I'd like to be friends at the very least. And shall the day come you bond, I will gladly stand beside you as you have your ceremony as your trusted. Just please, don't say anything." Ralia said thrusting the book into Liara's arms. She raised a hand to Liara's face and rubbed her thumb over her friend's cheek. Liara's hand shot up cupping the hand by her face. She pulled the purple hand to her lips and gently kissed her thumb.

"I wanted that too. I wanted to be with you." Liara said and for a moment things stopped their hands closed in one another, fingers intertwining. A purple hand grabbed at the back of the science uniform pulling the partner closer. A blue hand mirrored the same gesture. Their foreheads touched, noses rubbed lightly. Their lips touched briefly, warmth flooded them. The kiss deepened slowly, lips separating, tongues flickering out tentatively. A cough interrupted the pair before they could fully understand what they were doing. The two pulled from one another quickly, as if shocked gently, their hands though remained intertwined. Their eyes flittered to the man standing at the door. Commander Shepard stood there staring at them. Blushes blossomed upon their faces.

"Hope I'm not interrupting anything, but Liara, your mother was seen on Noveria. We are heading there now. I'd like to take you both down to the planet if you are feeling up to it." Shepard said

"Of course Commander." Both Ralia and Liara spoke quickly.

"And Liara you can't lay claim to this entire room. Believe it or not some of us use it to work out not to make out." Shepard said a grin on his face before he turned and walked out the door. Liara's blush deepened at his comment. Ralia grinned slightly at the deep blush on Liara's face. She leaned forward placing a kiss on Ralia's cheek, She then leaned forward before whispering into Liara's ear.

"You know if we hurry we can get some sleep before we land on Noveria." Ralia whispered her hand drifting down Liara's back before resting on a bundle of nerves just above where a human would have had a tailbone.

"Just sleep?" Liara asked her breathe labored.

"Yes, just sleep. We have a long day when we land on Noveria, no time for recreation." Ralia said before pulling away and walking out the door. Liara stood still blankly staring at the door before a grin came to her face as she practically ran out the door.

-Back room of Med-bay-

Ralia slipt the science uniform she wore and then slid into the queen-sized bed that had been brought in for the pair of them. She pulled the covers over her tight and waited. The door opened and she turned to see Liara standing in the door. It slid closed before her as she walked slowly to where Ralia lay. Liara put her hands on the foot of the bed before placing a knee beside them. She slowly crawled over where Ralia was and laid her forehead against Ralia's. For a moment everything was quiet before Ralia tilted her head upward to capture Liara's lips in a searing kiss. Ralia's arms wrapped around Liara's body. The kiss was quick, Ralia pulling back as Liara leaned forward to continue the kiss.

"Just sleep Liara." Ralia said slipping her hands to the back of Liara's neck. She pulled the Prothean enthusiast into a hug before rolling the pair over. Ralia slid down placing her head in the crook of Liara's neck, enjoying the way her crests rubbed slightly against Liara's skin. Liara's arms wrapped around Ralia's body, one hand slid into the base of Ralia's crests, her fingers caressed the thick base before running to the tip. She felt Ralia shudder slightly in her arms. Ralia's lips met with the skin covering Liara's collarbone she sucked on it lightly, eliciting a small groan from Liara.

"Mm, just sleep Ralia. Keep doing that and it won't be just sleep." Liara said quietly.

"Fine." Ralia said kissing the collarbone one more time before closing her eyes. Slowly their breathe evened out and the pair slipped into a blissful sleep.

-Noveria-

Ralia's first impression of Human military gear; was that it was incredibly uncomfortable to wear. She missed the outfit she wore on Omega, She missed the white jacket that was meshed with combat fibers. Her clothes back then were designed to look like Aria's to the point where if you saw her from the back you'd think it was Aria walking. Just the image of looking like Aria had dissuaded several assassination attempts. It did not help that Noveria looked like was going to be freezing and her suits heat regulation system seemed to be malfunctioning.

Shepard turned back to his team and saw the two Asari shivering slightly. He groaned as he realized they must not be as used to the cold as he was, part of N-7 training was to sit in the cold without shivering. If you could not sit in the cold without shivering you could not be relied to perform an infiltration in a cold locale. Besides Elysium was cold when he was on it, and he managed to hold out there as best he could. The entrance to Noveria had been a pain, they were stopped at the door by security, which had nearly turned into a firefight, but some woman by the name of Gianna Parasini had intervened. She had gotten them into Noveria and had agreed to help get them to Peak 15 so long as they got Lorik Qui'in's assistance in her investigation. It was for this reason they were in an elevator headed to the bar in Noveria. As the door opened James' eyes scanned the room for the Turian. He could see the Turian sitting at a table in the far side of the room. He was seated across from a woman with long black hair. She wore a tight white outfit, it conformed around her body it did not look like it would be considerably warm in the climate they were in, but James assumed there was an internal hate unit attached to the outfit. James calmly walked up to the pair at the table, the human was the first to notice him. He watched her slightly adjust herself at the table, sitting up taller, straighter.

"Are you Lorik Qui'in?" James said standing before the Turian. He could feel the woman's eyes on him as he spoke. He turned for a moment to look at the woman before him, and found himself looking at the bluest human eyes he have seen.

"Quite. What can an old Turian do for you? Oh where are my manners. Sit down Ms. Lawson here will get you a drink." Lorik said. The woman beside him pushed back in her chair and stood. She stood barely smaller then his impressive stature of six foot two.

"That won't be necessary. I need access to the garage and I may have heard you may be of need of some assistance."

"Yes, well I do have a pass, I am the manager of the local Synthetic Insight office, for now at least. Mr. Anoleis is looking into my office on grounds of my corruption."

"Bloody idiot, he's the corrupt one." The woman whispered.

"Ms. Lawson, that is quite enough. Since he became manager of Noveria affairs, he has made quite the living on the increased rent. Of course no one could prove that was why, until I got some information on him. Retrieve my information and I will get you into the garage." Lorik said

"Easy enough."

"Ah there is one, what's the charming human saying? Fly in the lotion?"

"Fly in the Ointment." Ms Lawson said

"Quite, Mr. Anoleis' thugs are probably searching my office currently. If they have tried to get into my files, my computer has been wiped. You'll need Ms. Lawson here to retrieve the files." The Turian said and Ms. Lawson nodded her head once at the Spectre before her.

"If they are in there right now then it is likely there may be a confrontation. Can she handle herself?" Ralia said speaking up. Ms. Lawson's eyes narrowed as she stared at the two Asari behind James.

"She is not trained for battle, but without her you'll never get access to the information."

"We'll make sure no harm comes to her."

"Good, oh and please try and keep blood off the carpet. It is a pain to clean." Lorik said before looking back down at the drinks before him. Ms. Lawson stepped away from the Turian and began to stroll out towards the elevator. For a moment James was mesmerized by the way her outfit wrapped around her backside, but upon realizing that both Liara and Ralia were staring at him he coughed and walked forward.

"Damn, her ass your tits we'd have the best Asari ever Liara." Ralia whispered not so quietly, causing a thick blush to come onto James' face.

"Ralia!" Liara said smacking Ralia and walking forward.

"I take it back, your ass is nice too. Definitely nice." Ralia said grinning at the blush on Liara's face. She then stepped quickly around Liara and stood next to James who had just arrived at the elevator. There waiting patiently for them was Ms. Lawson. The journey down the elevator was quiet, but when they were at the bottom Ms. Lawson broke the silence.

"Ignore what Mr. Qui'in said, I am capable of defending myself. I am quite capable with biotics and I am a steady shot if you give me a pistol I can help." Ms. Lawson said turning back to James.

"No deal Ms. Lawson. We can't risk you getting hurt. As for biotics we have two Asari trained in biotics fighting with us. Yours will be superfluous." James said

"I'm not some damsel that you have to protect Spectre. As for your Asari, you'll find I am quite capable of holding my own." Ms. Lawson said folding her arms behind her back. The action caused her chest to be accentuated by her outfit. Ralia stepped forward pulling the sidearm from her belt.

"Let's just hope you are as good as you say you are, Ms. Lawson." Ralia said thrusting the gun into Ms. Lawson's chest. Ralia stepped back to beside Liara. The quartet made their way into the synthetic insights office and was immediately met by gunfire. It seemed Anolei's thugs were taught to shoot first and ask question later. The first bullet rocked through James' shield but a barrier was erected around them by Liara. One of the thugs was pulled into the air by Ralia, and a shot from James brought the thug down. Miranda was firing her pistol at several locations where she knew thugs were hiding. It kept them from sticking their head out while the first thug was brought down. During this time James and Ralia stepped forward into the office and hid behind the pillars in the office. Finally Miranda's gun forcibly ejected the clip and the four thugs she was keeping pinned down popped out. Miranda flared her biotics sending one of the thugs shooting back, his head smacked roughly against the wall leaving a blood stain as he slid down. A quick shot from James brought down another, and one of the thugs was being slowly torn apart by Ralia's biotics. The biotics were actually slowly ripping the armor and skin from the thugs flesh. The final thug stared in horror as the muscle and bone of his friend was slowly revealed to him. He raised both hands to surrender, but a shot from Miranda brought the man down before he could speak. Those who had never seen such use of biotics stared the skeleton in shock before turning to Ralia.

"What the fuck was that?" James shouted

"Biotics."

"You turned the man into a bloody skeleton, I've never seen that done before."

"It's a very advanced form of biotics. It comes with practice. Ralia was always superb at offensive biotics, while I was much better at the defensive." Liara said her face turning pale as she tried to keep her breakfast down. She had seen death before, had killed before, but never had she seen someone have their very essence torn apart before her.

"Come on we need to get that information and get to Peak 15." Ralia said climbing the stairs to the left of them. The quartet made their way through the small waiting area and then through the long open walkway that led to Lorik Qui'in's office. Upon getting there Miranda sat down at his computer and began to type away furiously.

"It's going to take me a bit to get through to the information. Anolei's thugs tried to access it so I'll have to retrieve the information after resetting the system." Miranda said looking up at James before turning back to the computer. The door opened to the office they were in and three grenades were tossed in. Liara raised her hands a barrier expanding around her. As the grenades blew out the windows Liara's barrier grew protecting the quartet. James reached into his belt and grabbed a grenade of his own and threw it out the barrier into the hall. Not waiting for it explode he threw another harder, and another. As the grenades exploded the sound of the walkway crumbling filled the office followed by screaming as whoever was out there was crushed beneath the rubble. The office fell silent and Liara's barrier crumbled. The quartet was met with the cold of Noveria. They waited in silence as Miranda retrieved the information, it was downloaded onto her omnitool and she looked up.

"It's taken care of, lets go back to Mr. Qui'in." Miranda said before standing. The quartet made it to the door before seeing the full destruction caused by the grenades they had thrown out. The three grenades James had thrown had blown up the walkway causing it to cave in, they could see bodies dotting in the rubble. Liara and Ralia wrapped both James and Miranda in biotics and the quartet jumped down to the first floor of the office. Silence prevailed as they made their way into the elevator and down to the main center of Noveria. When the doors to the center opened they were greeted by Gianna Parasini.

"Spectre, there has been some noises and gunfire from this office. Any reason why?"

"I don't know must be Anoleis' thugs tearing the place up."

"A smart-ass eh? I can work with that. Meet me at the bar before you talk to Qui'in. I'll get you into the garage."

"Why should I? Qui'in's already getting us into the garage."

"This is bigger then some vendetta Qui'in has for the mistreatment of his office. This is- look my name is Gianna Parasini. I work for Noveria Internal Affairs. We are looking into the corruption of Anoleis' get Qui'in to testify and I'll get you in."

"Fine. I'll help you out, you just get me into the garage." James said before nodding to Gianna and walking to the bar of Noveria. The quartet slipped next to Qui'in.  
"Is it done?"

"Yeah, some property damage was dealt, but nothing that should set you back for to long."

"Good."

"Look Qui'in, Noveria Internal Affairs is looking into Anoleis. That information combined with your testimony could put him away and ease the tension on Noveria."  
"Why should I? I'm not going to be placed as the manager of Noveria."

"No, but you'll show any new management what happens when you are corrupt."

"Mr. Qui'in. It'd look good with Synthetic Insights as well. They will be pleased that you protected their assets." Miranda spoke up

"Fine." Qui'in said standing. He stopped before James and slid a small pass into his hand. It bore a picture of Qui'in and had a singular magnetic strip.

"Pleasure doing business with you Spectre." Miranda said winking and turning away from James. Once more his eyes followed her as she left.  
"Hey Commander, not to hurry you, but there's the whole Matriarch on Peak fifteen, commandos? You know Saren? The fate of the entire known galaxy. Not to rush you or anything." Ralia said smiling as James groaned.

"Come on." James said the trio made their way through to the garage, when they entered Geth attacked them. Rockets fired upon them rocking their shields and causing Liara's barriers to fluctuate. A large field opened around the trio shooting out at the Geth sending them to the floor. James gun blazed in a glory of bullets as he took out as many of the fallen Geth as he could. They returned to their feet and fired upon the bunkered down trio. A Geth appeared behind the barrier Liara had erected and a shot range out, plunging into James' shoulder. Blood spurted from the wound before Ralia turned on the geth and lifted it. She threw the spindly geth into the Geth with the rocket launcher. She threw it fast enough that as the rocket was launched the Geth collided with it causing both Geth to be blown to pieces. The last Geth took its place firing upon the barrier as it fell apart. The bullets tore at the cover they hid behind. James pulled at the medigel on his suit and rubbed it on the bullet wound. It had gone clean through, small mercies. His shoulder was tight and his arm ached as he pulled his gun to his shoulder. He turned and took the shot, connecting with the light that served as the Geth's optics. It blew open shattering the core and sending it down in a small explosion.

"Come on, we need to get to Peak 15." James said stretching his arm. The trio made their way to the Mako and slid inside. James took the driver spot Ralia made her way to the turret and Liara was on navigation. The trip to Peak 15 was hectic, not just for the Geth but because James seemed to make a habit of driving as close to the cliff faces as he could. Several times the Mako lurched as a wheel went over the edge. The next leg of their journey was on foot, as the repaired the tram lines to get to Peak 15. They were attacked by creatures none of them could place their origin, but they found the creatures spat some sort of acid that burnt at their armor. It did not fully burn through, but it exposed more of their skin to the cold. They arrived at Peak 15 and found themselves stuck in a quarantined zone. They had the indication that Benezia was not far from where they were and so they set upon getting their way through. It was relatively easy, minus an ambush by a commando left in the quarantine zone by Benezia.

The door opened to where Benezia was located slid open and they found a massive creature sitting in a glass cage. Benezia stood before the cage her hand on the glass. She turned her gaze upon the trio before speaking.

"You do not know the honor of being a mother. You bring Liara here to sway me."

"She is here because she is a member of my crew."

"What did you tell them about me Liara?"

"What could I say mother? That you're crazy? Should I tell him how to kill you? What could I say?" Liara shouted her voice thick with unshed tears.

"Have you faced an Asari commando unit before Shepard? Few humans have." Benezia said before raising her hand the doors around them slammed open and twelve Asari came pouring out. Benezia jumped up onto the cage a barrier coming around her as she pulled a gun out. Her gun fired and Liara raised a barrier to stop the bullet. Biotics rocked the barrier causing it to short out as Liara was picked off her feet. She was thrown roughly into the wall behind her, but was still conscious and relatively unarmed. James' gun ejected a clip as he brought down three Asari commandos. Ralia's biotics tore into the Asari commandos, several of them having their flesh ripped from their skin. As the last Asari fell Benezia appeared before them.

"You-you must listen. I can feel him calling to me still, but I have some control for now. I tried to fight him, tried to partition a part of my mind so that I could control myself. I failed."

"You were indoctrinated? I met an Asari on Feros who spoke of the ship's power."

"Ah Shiala. She is correct. That ship is unlike anything I've ever seen. I do not believe it to be of Geth creation, but I am unclear as to what it is. It gets in your head and whispers gently. It makes you want to obey."

"Mother."

"Liara. Look Shepard, Saren is looking for something, a conduit of sorts. I do not fully know what it does, but I know that he is obsessed with finding it. He believes that he can control the galaxy if he does."

"Where is it?"

"I do not know, but I am sure neither does Saren. Not yet at least. He wanted the information from the Rachni behind me. I did extract that information, I was not gentle."

"What was the information?"

"Unclear. It made no sense, just a blur of screams and pain."

"Mother what can we do? Can we get you to safety?"

"It's to late I can feel his lips on my ear. He is calling to me. Liara you have always made me proud. I just wish we had more time. You are the best of me, always was."

"Mother fight him!"

"Now die." Benezia said her eyes black. Her biotics burnt brightly throwing Liara to the ground. Ralia sprung forward her own biotics flaring and being defused by Benezia. James' fired upon Benezia, but her own barrier burnt the bullets in a flash of red light. She was moving forward quickly, her hand wrapped around Ralia's neck. Biotics coursed through her hand causing Ralia to scream in pain as her neck was burnt. Ralia brought her own biotics to her neck to protect herself. Liara stood up a barrier making itself known under Benezia's hand. The two barriers fluctuated before Benezia's shattered.  
"I won't kill my daughter." Benezia ground out her teeth tight as James fired upon her. Purple blood ran down her body as she let go of Ralia. Ralia collapsed to the floor her neck bright red and her breath short. Benezia fell back against the railing.

"Mother!"

"Goodbye little wing. I will see you with the dawn." Benezia said before pulling into the bond she shared once with Aethyta. She hoped that Aethyta would listen hoped that Aethyta would feel her presence. She prayed Aethyta would know how much she meant, how much she loved her still.

-At a bar in Illium-

Aethyta sat at the bar a drink in her hand. The bar had closed and Aethyta sat in silence. A single picture was before her. Benezia holding a small blue child, and herself resting her lips on the childs forehead. They were happy then. Things were simple, good. Now things were so painful for them. It had been so long since she had heard from Benezia, and now she knew her love had moved on, with some crazy Turian known as Saren. A presence made itself known in the back of Aethyta's mind and she welcomed it.

' **So now you want to talk?'** Aethyta spoke through the bond.

' **Thyta, I'm so sorry. So very sorry. I love you. You know that right I've always loved you.'** Benezia's voice came through followed by an image. An image of her daughter looking down at her tears streaming down her face. There was a young human man standing behind her a gun still in his hand. She could see a purple Asari, must have been Ralia T'Loak, holding her daughter tightly.

' **Nezzie?** '

' **Goodbye Thyta. I'll be waiting for you with the dawn.** ' Benezia said and then all was silent

"Nezzie?" Aethyta spoke tears making their presence known on her face

"Nezzie?" she yelled throwing the glass in her hand against the wall. Tears streaming down her face. For the first time in nearly a hundred years Aethyta cried.

-Noveria-

Liara collapsed to her knees throwing her arms around Benezia. She screamed in anguish as her mother's life slipped away. Ralia bent down grabbing at Liara who fought against her, refusing to separate from her mother.

"Li. Come on. We'll take her body with us, bury her on Thessia. She deserves that much. She'd want that. She'd want you to remember her as she lived, not as she died. Wouldn't she?" Ralia spoke

"She doesn't want anything anymore. She's dead, because of us." Liara shouted

"No, because of Saren, he killed her long before we saw her. She was dead on her feet, not herself anymore."

"She spoke to us! She was still there."

"And then she was gone."

"I never should have left her, forty years ago."

"If you didn't leave her then you'd be with Saren now. You'd be with Saren and I would be without you." Ralia said gently

"Please Li. Let's get her onto the Normandy. We'll make sure she gets what she deserves and the Saren pays for what he did." Ralia said. Slowly Liara let go of her mother and collapsed backward into Ralia's waiting arms. Ralia lifted her into her arms and Liara hid her head into her love's chest. James stepped forward and placed one arm under Benezia's legs and the other behind her neck. He lifted the woman, surprised at how light she was.

The trip back to the Normandy was quiet, except for the cries from Liara. The crew stepped away from the trio as they made their way through the bridge. James made his way down to storage, to find a crate long enough to lie Benezia in while Ralia took Liara into their room. She sat down on the bed, Liara still in her arms. She pulled on the combat seals on Liara's armor stripping her down to a pair of blue underwear that was nearly invisible next to her blue skin. She then placed Liara on the bed before stripping herself leaving herself in a pair of black underwear. She then laid down on the bed and pulled Liara into her chest. Tears dotted her skin as Liara cried long into the night. Ralia sat there stroking her love's skin gently, lovingly. She whispered words of comfort, whispered how she loved her still, how Benezia loved her. Slowly Liara slipped into a fitful sleep, but Ralia refused to rest. She sat there holding Liara. Holding her, and letting her know that she'd always be there for her. For a moment Ralia thought of Aria, thought of calling her mother, but that'd have to wait till after Saren was dead. Getting revenge for Liara was more important then anything else.


	4. Chapter 4 Reupload

A/N: So the way I see Ralia and Liara (And Asari at their age) They are like young adults (talking like 20) hormonally. So While they may be intelligent they are thrust into that whole hormonal issue there.

ValeriNeria: Thanks for the review! I'm glad you are enjoying it. As for Ralia's father I wasn't going to do a big part on that. (Though I will mention the father and give them a little part, though they are dead.)

Guest: Thanks for saying you like this story. I was getting a little concerned especially when you look at some of the other stories that have hundreds of reviews. I don't know.. Yeah Shepard is pretty bland right now. He'll get more going in ME2 and I'll be going straight through to ME2. All those questions about the meld and such will be answered.

Ragna: Ralia and Aria's relationship is at an odd point. Ralia doesn't know that she was adopted by Tevos, and Aria doesn't know Ralia doesn't know. Just wait for after ME1 we'll get to the first part of that soon.

Chapter 4 Virmire

James sighed stretching his arms as he stepped away from the crate that he used to hold Benezia's body. They had a long enough crate that he could have placed her down horizontally, but while he had been transporting her there rigor mortis had set in making it incredibly difficult for them to lay her down. He did not want to risk causing more damage to the matriarch's body and so James opted to put her in a smaller crate that she could fit in. As luck would have it he had approximately thirty or so crates that were perfect for placing her in. Unfortunately each of these crates had large writing on it stating that there was ammunition in there. He had several crewmembers clear out one of the emptier crates and then he placed the woman's body in there. He then opted to use one of the covers for the spare Mako to cover the crate, so that if or when Liara came down to visit her mother she wouldn't see the ammunition writing on it. James made his way through the ship before coming to his own room. He slipped his omnitool off ignoring the message from Perfection that had made its presence known. He slipped his skintight shirt and pants off before turning on his shower. He ran a hand under the water making sure it was nice and warm before stepping in. The warm water enveloped his body. He tentatively touched his shoulder where the bullet wound was still present, he had gone to Chakwas to have it mended, but it would take awhile yet to fully heal.

Shortly he turned the water off, after cleaning his body and hair. He then dressed in his boxers and pulled himself into bed. His omnitool was placed on his nightstand and with a groan he reached to grab it. The message from Perfection pinged open and a grin came to James' face.

"So get this. You know how I was working on Noveria after an incident at that branch? Well James Shepard walked in to the bar my boss was at. Not only that he came walking up to my boss and I got to work with the Spectre for a very minor thing. It was just getting information from my employers computer after we had been locked out. Very boring work really, but I'm pretty sure the Spectre stared at me."

"Oh really eh? Cause the first Human Spectre would just fall to your looks?" Shepard wrote back

"Hey what can I say I am perfect after all."

"There's that arrogance again."  
"Not arrogant if it's true."

"Mhmm I'm sure. Keep telling yourself that."

"It's the truth!"

"I haven't seen you so I can't say."

"Well I'm headed back to the Citadel currently. I'll be there for the next month and a half or so. I'll be back at the Synthetic Insights office there. Stop by?"

"We'll see."

"So how was your day?"

"Rough. One of my team just found out her mother died."

"Oh poor thing. Is she doing ok?"

"Not sure. She hasn't spoken to me about it."

"Well I'm sure she'll talk when she's ready."

For several more hours the two sent messages back and forth, they changed subjects from the depressing affair of lost family to the efforts it would take for Humanity to be able to build their own Mass Relays. They eventually came to the conclusion that due to humanities limited understand of how the Relays worked it'd take a combined effort from several races. They eventually agreed that the Quarians would be needed to do such a thing, but it was all conjecture. There was no way that the council would ever fund the creation of new Relays, especially if it meant allowing the Quarians back into the fold.

-Two weeks Later-

Ralia slowly peeled herself off of the still asleep Liara, she walked out the door hoping the sound wouldn't wake her love. Liara had awoken in the middle of the night in tears and had accidently woken up Ralia, she had then spent several hours comforting Liara before they both slipped back to sleep. Liara tried her best during the day to put up a strong face, but at night she crumbled. It tore at Ralia's heart to see Liara so broken, but she hoped things would pass soon. She wanted Liara to be happy, wanted her to be herself again. She nodded her head to Dr. Chakwas who was sitting at her desk. She walked through the med-bay into the mess hall where the mess sergeant would have food prepared for both Liara and herself. It had become a habit in the last two weeks, since Noveria, for her to come greet the mess sergeant and collect food for the two of them. At first the mess sergeant was against giving them food to eat in private quarters, as it was expected crew members would eat in the mess hall, but Shepard had spoken to him stating that it was best that they ate alone for awhile. The mess hall was quiet today with only one person eating at the table. Ralia couldn't quite see the man as he was turned away from where the mess sergeant resided. Thanking the man she made her way back to the Med-bay.

"How is Liara doing?" The man at the table spoke up. Ralia turned her attention to see Kaiden Alenko sitting there. Kaiden hadn't gone out of his way to be nice to Liara or Ralia before, but he hadn't been visibly annoyed at the pair like the other human on the ground team, Ashley Williams was her name if Ralia's memory served her right.

"She's fine." Ralia said her voice short. Kaiden sighed before standing. He turned and stepped forward to Ralia. His hands grabbed at the food that Ralia held. He managed to get one of the plates in his hands before Ralia stepped back away from him

"Let me help." Kaiden said calmly

"I do not need your help. I can take care of Liara myself." Ralia stated

"Mako is away, making our approach to Virmire." Joker's voice rung out through the intercom.

"I need to get Liara and myself ready, Shepard will need us so please give me the food back Kaiden." Ralia stated slowly. Kaiden sighed before placing the food into Ralia's hand.

"When we get back let me help out please? You can't do this all by yourself. It's eating away at you. The ground team can see it. We're concerned about you. If not me let someone help please." Kaiden said

"We'll see." Ralia uttered before turning back into the med-bay. She placed the food down on the desk in their room. She then placed her lips upon Liara's crests and pulsed her biotics giving Liara a small shock to awaken the woman below her. Liara squeaked in surprise and jumped up throwing her head roughly against Ralia's head. Ralia's vision swam slightly as her head was knocked back.

"Oh Rali! I'm sorry I didn't hurt you did I? I thought you were someone attacking me" Liara said pulling the covers up to cover her bra-covered chest.

"Goddess Li, your first reaction was to headbutt the attacker? You sure your pureblooded? I'm pretty sure your part Krogan if that was your first reaction." Ralia said shaking her head.

"I am not part Krogan!" Liara said shocked

"Of course not Li." Ralia said rolling her eyes

"I'm not!" Liara shouted and threw a pillow at Ralia.

"Ok ok don't go blood rage on me now."

"Oh I'll show you blood rage." Liara said before jumping at Ralia. Their lips touched and for a moment Ralia wanted to give in to a meld and bond with Liara right there and then. The call came through once more stating that they were entering Virmire's atmosphere.

Come on we need to eat and get dressed. Shepard wanted us all deployed for the mission." Ralia said breaking the kiss

-Virmire-

Wrex had been visibly upset by the news that Saren had engineered a cure for the Genophage, and more then that that the plan was to destroy the cure. He had nearly punched Shepard but was subdued after a short conversation, but he was still tense and was demanding that he got to kill something. The decision was that he'd go with Ashley Williams to secure the turrets while Shepard Garrus and Tali infiltrated the base. Liara, Kaiden and Ralia were set on deploying the bomb in the facility. The nuke was already set and ready to go they just needed a clear area. The cargo bay of the Normandy was silent as Liara ran a hand over the blanket covering her mother's corpse. Ralia stood behind her a hand on her love's shoulder. Kaiden stepped forward from his place checking over the nuke to where Liara was.

"You know Liara when I was eighteen I was at a place called Jump Zero. It's where humans go to train biotics, or atleast some of them go there. Anyway I got a call from my sister stating that mom had been in an accident, and was hospitalized. I couldn't leave Jump Zero at that time, and when the call came that my mom had died it broke me. I was so angry all the time after that, once or twice I thought about ending my own life because I had let my family down by not trying to be there. As if I could have saved my mother's life just by being there." Kaiden stated before placing a hand on the blanket.

"Kaiden-" Ralia said annoyed at the man's brashness

"I was given leave to go the funeral. One of our family friends came up and spoke just a few words that helped me a lot. If you'll permit me I'd like to share them with you now." Kaiden said continuing.

"I don't think that would be wise Kaiden." Ralia stated  
"I'd like to hear them." Liara said quietly

"Now this is a human poem the author has been lost in time though: Think of her as living in the hearts of those she touched. For nothing loved is ever lost, and she was loved so much. You may mourn Matriarch Benezia but know that she lives on in you in your memories, and most of all in everything that surrounds you." Kaiden said before stepping back. Ralia looked down at Liara who was shuddering slightly unshed tears brimming at her eyes.

"Thank you Kaiden." Liara said

"We are touching down at the bomb site. " Joker's voice came through the radio. The trio stood before Ralia and Liara lifted the nuke with biotics and the cargo bay opened. Slowly the three of them brought the bomb to the center of the breeding grounds. Water rushed at their feet. After the bomb was placed Ralia and Liara walked back onto the Normandy as it lifted up away from the range of the AA turret that was taking aim at it. The Normandy rocked slightly as a shot from the turret disintegrated the ships shielding. Ralia was sent tumbling into the crates around them as the Normandy lurched in evasive maneuvers. Finally the Normandy stopped shaking as the AA turret was disabled. Ralia stood up and walked to where Liara had fallen to. She extended a hand to lift the Asari as the comms lit up.

"Kaiden you've got a Geth dropship coming your way." Shepard said

"It's already here Commander. I'm arming the nuke go get Ashley and Wrex."

"Negative Commander go help the L.T." Ashley's voice came through.

"Go ahead Shepard, Ashley and I can manage here just fine." Wrex said. There was a pregnant pause as the comms went silent. Liara and Ralia looked at each other silently praying that everything would be ok.

"Joker pick us up at the AA tower."

"Aye aye Commander." Joker's voice was solemn

"No Joker pick them up where Kaiden is!" Ashley screamed into the comms.

"It's ok Ash."

"I'm sorry Kaiden. I had to make a choice."

"It's been an honor Commander." Kaiden said and the comms went silent. For what seemed like hours Ralia and Liara stared in shock at one another. They did not move until Shepard and his team stepped foot on the Normandy.

"Commander maybe if we hurry we can save Alenko." Ralia said

"Get us out of here Joker." Shepard said through the comms.

"Aye aye."

"Commander!" Ralia spoke up trying to get Shepard's attention.

"We can't risk it Ralia. Kaiden knew that this was going to be a one way trip from the moment we stepped onto Virmire."

"Still Commander it doesn't sit right with me." Ralia said looking at her feet.

"Me either. You should have saved him not me Commander." Ashley yelled

"This wasn't about just you Ashley. This was about Wrex, the Salarians and you. I couldn't justify saving a single soldier over those who were with you." Shepard rebuked placing a hand on Ashley's shoulder

"Still! We should have found a way to save him." Ashley said

"Ashley, if I knew a way I would have saved him as well."

"Commander I have an incoming call from the Council. You might want to get to the comm room, sir." Joker spoke up. Shepard stepped past Ashley. The elevator pinged as Shepard entered it. When Shepard was fully out the Ashley turned to the weapons locker before stepping to where Kaiden' once was. She placed a hand on it and closed her eyes. Tali stepped beside her placing a gloved hand on Ashley's outstretched hand.

"I'm sorry Ashley. He was a good man." Tali said squeezing Ashley's hand

"The best." Ashley whispered lightly.


	5. Chapter 5

A/N:

So again we'll be skipping parts here. The story will SLoooowwww down after ME2 starts. Much of the skipped parts will come up in necessary flashbacks, but I don't want to type them here and then have to do a flashback to a scene that already happened to get the nuance of the moment.

There is a little sex in this chapter. I won't be doing big sex scenes with Liara and Ralia just yet. It was actually a little difficult to do the sex scene here simply because I didn't want to make it to raunchy (And I did in fact do that the first time I wrote this scene) Thing is I wanted to keep it true to the characters at this time. They are both unknowing of sex and are acting by pure impulse in the moment. If I wanted some big sex scene I'd have done it, but this wasn't about that really. We'll get to big sex scenes with the pair at a later date (Right before ME2 starts 4 chapters at the least) Anyway if you are looking for a bigger sex scene look at Longing I have a big sex scene I'm currently working on involving a Femshep and Hermaphrodite Miranda. (It should be up in the next few days)

So originally this chapter was going to take us all the way to Shepard on the Citadel, but I decided to split it into two chapters. We'll come back to right before Joker's call next chapter and be with Shepard for that moment. Much like the Noveria chapter next one will be long!

Chapter 5

James reached forward to the comm button, it had been a hell of a meeting with the Council and he had much to tell his crew, but for now he needed to mourn his friend. His finger traced the button, contemplating calling for a meeting or just giving his ground crew time to rest. He closed his eyes and thought of his old friend, the drinks late at night when the crew was asleep, the time he set Kaiden up with some drunk chick they had found, and the fall out of the venereal disease that interaction had caused came unbidden to his mind. He pushed down and opened the comms to the crew.  
"All Ground Crew meet in the debriefing room. All other crewmembers the Mess is open for you to hold your own memorial for Kaiden Alenko. We are headed back to Citadel to give our final push against Saren and his Geth. We will make him pay for killing our friend. Take this moment to remember Kaiden, and to prepare yourself for victory." He spoke before he turned back to the debriefing room. It was empty and would be until the first of the crew arrived. James walked slowly over the chair Kaiden once occupied and placed a hand on the chair. The ground crew slowly slipped into the debrief room, all except for Ashley Williams. James sighed before he left the room to hunt down Ashley. He found her sitting at Kaiden's locker, she had opened it and was packing the personal items left within.

"Ash?"

"Commander." Ashley said her voice trembled as she spoke

"We're waiting for you in the debrief room."

"Can you just go on without me? I need to take care of things here."

"Ash come on join us we're all your friends."

"Friends? None of those Aliens know me."

"Tali calls you her friend, and everyone of them would gladly get to know you if you gave them a chance."

"Unlikely. I'm not like Kaiden, I don't do sweet."

"Ash no one is expecting you to be like Kaiden."

"Commander I really need to finish packing Kaiden's things."

"Leave that for later." James said bending down and pulling Ashley up.

"No." Ashley whispered before pushing off of James

"You should have let me fucking die Commander. You fucked up. You should have sent Kaiden with the Salarian team and left me to die." Ashley went off

"You think Kaiden would have been happy if you died?"

"Fuck that Kaiden would have just been happy to be alive. You know that. Me? I don't give a fuck either way. Least a Williams would have died a hero.

"Is that what this is about? You're shame over your family name, because of some fucked up backseat politics that screwed your family? Ash you have no reason to be ashamed of that."

"Commander that is really none of your concern."

"It is my concern if I have to worry about you making suicidal calls because you are ashamed."  
"I am not ashamed Commander."

"What you think you need to prove yourself to someone? Everyone on this crew respects you. And the others who don't? Fuck them. They don't know the work you do. As far as I am concerned you are one of the best damn soldiers in the Alliance."

"Commander-."

"I mean it Ash. Come join us. That's an order." James said letting Ashley go and stepping away. He grinned down at Ashley who looked up shocked for a moment. A sad smile made its presence known on her face.

"I'll be there later Skipper. Just let me finish things up here real fast. I need to do this." Ashley said looking down at a picture of Kaiden and his father.

-On Way to Ilos-

Now they had done it. They had stolen the Normandy, they had become galactic criminals in their quest to save the galaxy. It was a daunting task for them, and Shepard had been quite clear that it was up to them now. Ralia sat at the desk in her room that she shared with Liara. Liara had stepped outside to go to the crew bathroom and shower while Ralia sat composing a letter to her mother. She knew the letter would never reach Aria, but it helped her pass the time. She heard the faint sounds of the door behind her opening and she turned to see Liara stepping towards her. Her skin was still dotted with water as she wore the same science uniform she had worn to the bathroom. Liara crossed the room and bent at Ralia's side, one of her hands reached up to caress the sensitive neck ridges of her purple-skinned partner. Ralia's eyes opened as a warmth began to fill her body as her ridges were teased.

"Li? What are you doing?" Ralia's voice was thick as unchecked emotion coursed through her body.

"Rali, we may not live past tomorrow. I don't want to die never knowing you completely." Liara whispered

"Liara."

"Please." Liara said reaching to the back of her science uniform and pulling the zipper down. The uniform pooled at her feet and Ralia's eyes took in the woman before her. Liara had not worn underwear and Ralia felt her mouth go dry as she looked upon the azure of her soon to be bondmate. A slight trickle of excitement made its presence known on Liara's azure and Ralia's tongue flicked out damping her own lips. Liara's knees bent as she sat herself upon the bed and her legs widened giving Ralia more of a view.

"Come to me Ralia." Liara said one of her hands covering her moist azure. The other hand covered the hardened blue peaks of Liara's bosom. Ralia swallowed and stood. Her hands fumbled for the zipper and her own uniform pooled at her feet. A black bra and panties covered Ralia's naked form. Ralia stepped forward into Liara's open legs and placed each of her hands on Liara's knees. Their lips met in a hungry kiss and Liara's hands shot to Ralia's back. Quickly Ralia's bra was dangling open and Liara's other hand had snuck into the black panties. A finger traced the separation of the two toned cheeks that were Ralia's backside. Ralia's hands shot to Liara's crests pleasuring the ridges.

The kiss broke apart as Ralia found her lips catching one of the hardened nipples of her partner. The need for a meld made its presence known in the pairs mind, but they denied the urge opting to first truly make contact with their partner. Ralia's left hand shot to the blue azure, moist lips meeting purple digits. Her digits spread the folds before one finger entered the Protheaen enthusiast. A moan escaped Liara's mouth as she tried to even the playing field. Her own digit coaxed the nub at the apex of Ralia's azure. The meld burnt in their minds and tentatively they reached out. Their essences pooled together and the pair could feel the other's pleasure, could feel their own fingers within the other. They felt the pulse of the other's heart as their own. Their fingers sped up urging the release they needed. It came crashing upon the pair like waves upon the Thessian coast. A load moan escaped each other's lips and then it all fell silent. They collapsed onto the bed, their own essence pooling on the sheets, but in the moment neither could care. They were pleased to sit beside their partner and feel their entire essence. The meld had not faded and so the pair breathed in time with the other, their hearts beat together and thoughts mingled. No longer were they two separate Asari, all they were, was one singular unit moving together in the throws of lust and love. Eyes drifted shut and dreams coalesced, dreams of blue and purple children dancing together, and dreams of white Thessian roses being placed in their crests as their loved ones bowed their heads. These moments were cut short by a call from Joker.  
"Five minutes from Ilos." Joker's voice cut through the room and Ralia's eyes opened. The meld faded as the pair awoke and they turned to each other. Their lips touched gently.

"We'll make it through this Liara."

"We better, or I'll be very upset I didn't get that future with you." Liara mumbled

The two kissed one more time before each dawning their own underarmor. Ralia's eyes shot to Liara's and with a nod the two left their room and prepared for the final push.


	6. Chapter 6

A/N: so originally this was going to be longer as I had Ralia on the trip to Ilos. I decided against it and instead wanted the little discussion with Ashley and Garrus as it was incredibly important to have. (That'll make sense next chapter

Chapter 6

James sat on his bed in silence, he was worried about what tomorrow would bring. What if Saren has the conduit already and is on his way to the Citadel? He'd destroy the fleet there. There was no way they could stop the Reaper without even knowing what to expect from it. He ran a hand on his chin feeling the slight stubble there. He hated that feeling of stubble he really needed to shave. A laugh escaped his lips here he was complaining about a little stubble when millions could be dying. His omnitool pinged and his eyes shot to it, it was a message from Perfection. She wouldn't be messaging him if there was anything going on at the Citadel. With a smile he opened the message.

"Hey I heard a large force of C-Sec is creating a barricade around the Citadel. You think we're going to be attacked?"

"Not sure. We aren't being told the full situation."

"Are you on one of the ships?"

"Yeah. I'm on the C-Sec ship, Yserguld."

"Oh. Damn. Was hoping you'd be on the citadel and we could talk. If we really are going to be attacked I wanted to see you again."

"Hey when this is over I'll come see you."

"Promise me you'll come find me."

"I will" James said a smile on his face. He really would come see her, he'd tell her everything. He'd tell her that he fell in love with her through the chat and wanted for so long to just tell her the truth. He just hoped she'd listen to him, and would accept him.

"Alright, hey I have to get to work soon, if you get time off come see me at the office?"

"Will do."

James stared in silence as the chat never pinged again. Worry filled him, and he was convinced the citadel was being attacked right then and there. He breathed deep and stood.

"Five minutes from Ilos." Joker's voice came through the speaker and James was on the move. Without delay he slipped his own armor on and walked out of his quarters. He nodded at his Asari companions as they left the Med-bay. Together the three of them made their way to the cargo bay where Joker would drop the Mako. His entire ground team was there waiting for him.  
"Liara, Wrex I want you two down there with me. The rest of you are to stay on board with Joker." James said and he stood at attention as his crew dispersed. Liara Wrex and Ralia went to the lockers.

-Ralia-

Ralia followed behind Liara as she went to her locker to get prepared to go down to Ilos. Her locked opened and Ralia found herself stepping forward to wrap her arms around Liara.

"Hey it's going to be ok."

"Come back to me. Ok?"

"I will always come back." Liara said placing her hands on Ralia's. Ralia stepped back and watched as Liara slipped her armor on. When she was fully prepared for the trip to Ilos Liara turned back to Ralia. Their arms wrapped around one another and lips touched hungrily searching for the others warmth. Eyes darkened for a moment as Liara pushed her feelings into Ralia's mind. Ralia shuddered as her mind and heart soared at the warmth emanating from the meld. A single blue child with gray eyes danced before her mind's eye.

"For our children. I will come back." Liara's thoughts entered her mind.

"I will be waiting." Ralia returned and the meld broke. The kiss ended and Liara's left hand rose to Ralia's face.

"Liara come on, Joker's preparing the drop." James said and the pair turned to see the door to the Mako open and Wrex was climbing in. Liara stepped away from Ralia and turned to join the team in the Mako.

"I'll see you soon Siame." Liara said. The door to the Mako closed and the cargo bay opened. The Mako accelerated out the cargo bay and Ralia watched as it disappeared beneath the Normandy.

"You better." Ralia whispered before turning back to the elevator. She walked to it and saw Ashley and Garrus waiting there. Ashley opened the elevator and stepped inside signaling for the two to join her. The door closed behind the threesome and Ashley turned to where Ralia stood

"So it's true then? You and Liara are together?"

"Is it really your business?"

"Hey its just with that screaming argument the pair of you had in the mess, the some of the crew's been worried they'd wake up to the two of you going at it with biotics. Another part was sure they'd wake up and the two of you would be fucking in the mess hall." Ashley said. Ralia's purple face darkened in embarrassment.

"I'd never- we'd never have sex in such a public place."

"Good, the thought of that happening made me not want to eat at the mess hall." Ashley said shrugging

"It made me want to eat at the mess hall more." Garrus quipped

"Men." Ashley muttered the elevator door opened and the trio made their way to the mess hall.

"Speaking of that argument in the mess hall. LIara called herself something, a pureblood. What exactly is that?"

"It's a great insult in Asari culture. A pureblood is an Asari who's parents were both Asari."

"But for you lot to even be a space-faring species you'd have to have had bred with other Asari."

"Yes, but when it was discovered that an Asari can mate with other species, and also take their qualities as our own it was deemed unneeded for two Asari to mate. When two Asari mate nothing is gained and the risk for the plague increases."

"The plague?"

"It's a disease special to Asari children born of two Asari. It affects the mating meld of the child and causes it to become like a drug for the Asari. You see when an Asari births a child they take the essence of their partner within themselves. Even in the mating meld they take the essence to a lesser degree. This plague causes the Asari to become addicted to their partners essence, and they forget not to take to much within themselves. It becomes a deadly battle of wills that the partner will inevitably lose."

"So these plagued Asari kill anyone they mate with?"

"Yes. Though you need not worry. Liara is not one of them. These Asari are sealed away in a temple. If any of them escape they are hunted down and killed. The Asari do not suffer the Ardat-Yakshi, that is the name we give the plagued Asari to live."

"But what if one escapes and manages to have a child with a partner they killed? Will the child be plagued as well?" Garrus asked

"No, Ardat-Yakshi are sterile."

"Wait, so if you and Liara-" Ashley started before Ralia looked down and nodded her head. It was a fear that Ralia knew could come to pass. If her barriers ever lowered then Ralia could take Liara's essence within her womb and birth an Ardat-Yakshi daughter. The very thought filled her with dread.

"Well none of this matters if we all die here." Garrus said

"Well that was cheerful."

"If we do die I hope the whole crew meets each other at the bar." Garrus said placing a hand on the table.

"We aren't going to die. We'll win." Ashley spoke drinking her scotch deeply.

"Goddess I hope so." The trio fell to silence as they stared at their respective drinks. Static filled the comm system before Joker's voice rung out.

"The Commander has called upon us to rush to the Sol system and hail the Systems Alliance fleet. He believes Sovereign is already attacking the citadel. All hands brace for transit. I'm breaking all safety precautions." Joker said and the ship shook as it took off. Ralia's biotics flared pulling Garrus and Ashley, in their chairs, next to her before she used her biotics to lock both their chairs to the ground.

-On the Citadel-

Miranda ran as the Geth chased her. Things had gone to hell fast in the Citadel, the Geth entered the synthetic insights office and began to unload into her co-workers. Two bullets had caused Miranda's arms to be useless disabling her use of biotics. She jumped over a desk and entered the laboratory of the office. Swinging her useless arms she closed the doors. The doors were meant to guard against any such situation. If the Citadel was ever attacked, the whole office was supposed to go into this room and seal the door. The door would merge with the wall, and unless the attackers knew the exact layout of the Citadel they'd be safe. As it was Miranda was the only one who managed to get in. The door rocked before blasting open as a rocket connected with it. The blast knocked Miranda through the glass and she passed out as the door landed on her legs.


	7. Chapter 7

A/N: So I'm not going to go into what's happening with Shepard in this chapter. The focus will be on the situation with Liara and Ralia as I am skipping to the end of ME1/ start of ME2.

Next chapter ME2 starts.

Chapter 7: Two for Tragedy

-Citadel Asari Ambassador Chambers-

The Asari Ambassador Chambers was a large room with fountains with statues of Athame in the center. There were several Asari sitting on the fountains, their fingers traced into the waves as the laughed at whispered words from their companions. Ralia sat staring calmly at the Councilor before her, if it were not for Liara's fingers interlaced with her own she'd be a nervous wreck.

"Ralia. It brings me no pleasure to have to bring this news to you. While you were off with Commander Shepard news came to us about your mother and sister. Our sources found your daughter to be Ardat-Yakshi. We sent a message to Aria stating that she was to send Liselle T'Loak to the monastery on Lesuss. She refused to send her daughter there. As you know this puts us in a very uncomfortable position. We had to send Justicars after your sister, but Aria killed three of them. Your sister was wounded during this and Aria called for peace. We gave her the choice to surrender Omega to Council control and we'd allow you, Liselle and herself to live a life on a planet far away under watch by Justicars. Of course you would have been allowed to travel as you saw fit, but Aria and Liselle would be confined there." Tevos said standing and looking out the window at the reconstruction of the Citadel. Ralia's hand gripped Liara's tightly, fear coursing through her body.

"She refused our offer. We then tried to make a final offer stating that once again she'd give up Omega, but we'd allow her to live her life with her children on Thessia. She'd of course have to register you as her child, but that should have been an easy gesture for her to do. She refused stating that Omega was more important then some ignorant daughter who ran from her. I then asked her if she lays no claim to you. She did not lay claim. As of three months ago you were a ward of Thessia."

"I-I see." Ralia croaked out her heart ached. She could feel Liara's arms around her, but it gave her no comfort. Tears fell unbidden onto Ralia's armor. The room fell silent and Ralia could feel the eyes of every Asari in the room on her.

"After you were a ward the Matriarch Society wanted to place you under arrest. I placed you under my protection and named you my daughter. As of two months ago you became Ralia Tevos to the Thessian community." Tevos said stepping from around the desk and placing a hand on Ralia's crests.

"Why would you?" Liara asked as Ralia struggled to speak through her tears.

"I lost my daughter long ago. I can not bear to see a daughter abandoned for political prowess. I know I can never take Aria's place in your heart Ralia, and I do not claim to try. Just allow an old tired Matriarch the joy of having a daughter once more. Please." Tevos said her biotics flaring slightly to massage the crests of Ralia. She used to do this to Aria, when the stress of Omega became to much. It always calmed Aria, and if she was right it'd calm Ralia too. For awhile the three were in silence before Ralia stood, forcing Liara to her feet as well.

"Give me time Councilor, please." Ralia said stepping away.

"Of course. I will say that if you ever step onto Omega, you will lose my protection. you understand that I can no longer stop the Matriarch Society from sending the Justicars after you if you do that. Right?" Tevos said stepping back to her desk.

"I have no intention of ever returning there." Ralia said making her way to the door. Liara followed her closely.

"I see. And Liara the permit to have Matriarch Benezia's funeral on Thessia has been cleared. All the preparations are finished, according to her will. It will take place once you return to Thessia. I suggest you head there now." Tevos said Liara nodded before the door shut behind her. Tevos smiled as she pulled on a drawer in her desk. There in the drawer was a single piece of a fringe of a Turian. She grabbed it and turned it over in her fingers. There engraved in the back was the name Nivea Tanso. The Fringe was a reminder of Aria's treachery two hundred years ago. Tevos brought it to her lips gently kissing the fringe.

"Our revenge is at hand my old friend." Tevos whispered before placing the fringe back in her desk.

-Thessia Three Months Later-

Liara's eyes widened in fear as the news came across her omni-tool: Normandy crew found escape pods. Commander Shepard, the First Human Spectre, and savior of the Citadel's body was not found. He is presumed dead.

Liara jumped up from the breakfast table and ran through the elegant rooms of her families summer home. She barreled over some of the maids cleaning different parts of the home before she barged into the bathroom. There sitting on a small stool with a towel around her neck was Ralia. Ralia turned to Liara a smile on her face.

"You want to join me Siame? I got one spot that needs to be cleaned." Ralia said sliding a hand down to the juncture of her legs. She winked before her eyes took in Liara's frantic state.

"What's wrong Liara?"

"Normandy was destroyed. Shepard is dead."

"What?" Ralia yelled. Liara stepped forward turning the screen of her omnitool around so that Ralia could see the news. Ralia's grey eyes poured over the news three time before she looked up. She stood quickly making her way to their room. She jumped onto the red satin sheets of the bed before reaching to the small strap that was her omnitool. She slid it on before pulling up Councilor Tevos' information. The omni-tool beeped quietly as Tevos' face made it's presence known on the screen.

"You heard the news?" Tevos asked rhetorically.

"Yeah. Shepard's dead? Do we know who lived?" Ralia said trying not to cry.

"Joker, Ashley Williams, Engineer Adams, Dr. Chakwas, Garrus Vakarian, Urdnot Wrex, and Tali'Zorah Nar Rayya. They were the only survivors." Tevos said

"Goddess. What are we going to do about the Reapers without Shepard?" Ralia asked. She had shared hers and Liara's memories of the Reaper Sovereign to the Asari Ambassador. Tevos had made immediate plans to up the military of the Asari. It was met with resistance, but after a single demonstration of the Normandy ground team destroying a full Asari platoon in the Armax Arena the Matriarchs agreed. As of now Thessia was gearing for war. Biotics were being trained and new ways to use them were being found at rates unheard of. They had grabbed the attention of the Salarians, asking that a team of STG were deployed to fix the defense grid around Thessia.

"I don't know, but for now keep training commandos as best you can." Tevos said her voice tight with worry. The screen closed and Ralia turned back to see Liara packing clothes.

"What are you doing?" Ralia asked

"You read the news. Shepard's body was not found. He could still be alive somewhere." Liara said not even bothering to look up

"Liara. The news also said the Normandy blew up in Space. If the explosion didn't kill him then the vacuum did." Ralia said standing to stop Liara from packing. Ralia tried to pull on the clothes, but Liara refused to stop packing.

"I know, but he could be alive. Or atleast we should find his body." Liara said stuffing more clothes into suitcases.

"Are you forgetting about the whole we are here to train Commandos for the Reaper invasion? I mean it's bound to happen in our lifetime." Ralia said sitting down on the bed.

"Will you just help me pack? We can find him quickly and then we'll be back." Liara yelled

"I can't go Liara. You know this. The Normandy was in the Terminus systems." Ralia said calmly.

"You're right. You'll have to stay here." Liara said removing clothes she had grabbed from Ralia's dresser.

"Liara. There is no reason to do this!" Ralia yelled as Liara grabbed her suitcases and began to walk out the door.

"I'll be back my love." Liara said and left the room. Ralia followed her until they were at the door. Liara turned back and their lips touched hungrily.

"I love you." Liara said and stepped away. She walked to one of their sky cars and slipped inside. The car started up and she was off. Ralia watched as the car disappeared over the Horizon

-Three months Later undisclosed location-

Miranda's eyes opened slowly as her body ached in pain. Her vision swam before she found herself laying on a table in a hospital. Her eyes widened when she found herself looking up into the eyes of her boss.

"It was touch and go there Miranda. Good to have you back with us." The Illusive Man spoke for once the man did not have his cigar with him. Her eyes took in the rest of the room. The room was a wide-open medical bay several. Just behind the Illusive Man she could see an Asian man with a visor looking at her. Her body ached as she slid to the ground, her white Cerberus armor was torn, but still functional and still covered her. She stumbled and nearly fell, but was propped up by her boss.

"What exactly happened? How'd I get here?" Miranda croaked out

"Your omni-tool sent a distress message to me when your vitals began to drop. I sent a message through to Kai Leng here, who luckily was on the Citadel, and he got you out of there. From his report if he had been later you'd be one of the husks." The Illusive Man said helping the perfect woman to a chair.

"What happened on the Citadel?"

"It was a close call, but it seems James Shepard saved the Council, at the cost of human lives, along with the Citadel. C-Sec's fleet was entirely destroyed. No ship remained, as of this time they are struggling to keep up. We are sending several of our agents into their ranks. It would also appear the council has called upon engineers to build mechs to replace the fallen C-Sec soldiers. We are also infiltrating there." The Illusive Man said. Miranda's mind began to swim at the news that C-Sec's fleet was gone. The man she loved was on one of those ships. Her breath came in short ragged gasps.

"Rest will have to come later Miranda. It has been four months since the attack on the Citadel. Commander Shepard has died, his body has gone missing."

"Missing? How?"

"We believe the Shadow Broker is involved, we managed to get in contact with one of his old crew, a Liara T'Soni. She and one of our agents are reclaiming his body. I want you to rebuild him."

"Rebuild him? He's dead. We can't bring a man back to life."

"You'll have to find out how to do it. We need Shepard to even hope to win this war. This whole station is yours to get it done." The Illusive Man said before he and Kai Leng began to walk out the door.

"Oh yes, go to Omega that's where Liara T'Soni will bring Shepard's body." The Illusive Man said and he left the room. Miranda waited till she could no longer hear the Illusive Man's shoes on the floor before she broke down into tears.

-One Month Later Thessia-

Ralia smiled as she felt Liara's presence in the back of her mind. They had been in communication every day since she had left.

" **Come with me to Illium. I already cleared it with Tevos. It is neutral ground."** Liara's voice came through their link. Ralia just grinned as her eyes darkened and she allowed Liara to see through her eyes. She showed Liara their private vessel's coordinates.

" **I'm already coming Siame."**


	8. Chapter 8

A/N: ME2 starts!

Terms used:

Nara: One who carries a burden (Great burden)

Yakshi: Night winds Taken from Ardat-Yakshi where we assume Ardat is demon

Rebekha: Guardian. Or rather "Guardian of the Night"

Reviews:

RED78910: On a side note before I get to your reviews I'd like to say thank you for reviewing (You're one of my favorite none purely Shepard based writers.) Anyway. Glad you like Ralia. We'll get to Aria's backstory in this part of the story. ME2 will have a lot of Aria doing Aria things. You feel sorry for Aria just wait till you get the what happened 200 years ago... I already wrote it and I'm on the fence about making it less screwed up. Simply because it's just cruel. As for her not having any power in the games... She did have power. I mean in Mass Effect 3 she's the one who gets three mercenary groups to even consider helping with the crucible, also there is that scene when you first meet her in ME3 and she simply calls up Tevos to do her bidding. I mean think about it... Tevos is the Asari councilor.. how many people could just ring her up and get her to do whatever she wants? She'd have to have serious power to do I always felt the tragedy of Liara was that she was destined to lose Shepard (if you romanced her). I mean be it age or the war Shepard has to die.

Chapter 8:

The asari made her way quickly through the skies of Ilium, her sky car raced between lanes of traffic. Her eyes sweep the skyline praying that those chasing her had been lost in the last turn. She sighed a breath of relief as there were no flashing lights behind her. She was home free. A shot rang out through the sky and her car lurched downward as a bullet broke through the glass and impacted squarely between her eyes. Her skycar plummeted to the ground before it was incased in a blue glow. The car was torn apart by the biotics of an Asari standing in the alley the car was plummeting to. As sson as the car was solely a mess of broken parts and blood the Asari threw a singular note at the center of the rubble and turned away.

-On a rooftop-

The Asari sniper stood from her crouched position, the gun in her hands ejected the clip as she slipped it into the holster on her back. Her Mantis painted black the night sky was a stark contrast to the white of her jacket. She raised a single hand to her ear before speaking into the comm.

"Confirmation target is dead. Yakshi is the target disposed off?"

"Target is disposed off, Rebekha. Message is left. Returning home." Yakshi's gruff voice slipped through the comms.

"Good work Yakshi. We'll be in touch next time Nara requires your services." Rebekha responded stepping into the parked sky car behind her

"You better. Nara still owes me dinner from last time."

"Yes well Nara has been busy. I'll pass the message along." Rebekha said her skycar raced off to her home. She took a circular way around so that any cameras watching the area didn't have a direct view to where she was going. She stopped at a small rarely used skycar terminal and dropped the skycar she was using off. The Salarian at the terminal nodded to her as he passed the keys to a new car to her. She extended her own greeting before stepping into the new skycar. She took off calmly into the night sky.

-Rebekha's apartment-

The young Asari stared in shock at the door to her apartment. It was unlocked, both her and Nara slept here and they habitually kept the door locked. If it was unlocked it meant trouble. Her hand shot to the pistol at her waist and she opened the door. She stepped inside her eyes swarming over the room. Furniture was thrown around there was no blood from what she could see. That was a good thing. Her eyes caught a blue glow just as it impacted with her. She felt her limbs freeze her eyes were unaffected. Her vision swam as two fingers pushed against her crests.

"One of the targets is captured, the other was missing." A modulated voice rang out from behind Rebekha. The voice was still feminine, but she was unable to be placed to a specific race.

"Yes of course. I'll get it done Shadow Broker." Rebekha's world began to fade to black as the pressure on her crests increased. A singular thought slipped into her mind as she passed out.

'I'm so sorry Liara.'

-Project Lazarus station-

Commander James Shepard eyes fluttered open. A man who was officially dead opened his eyes. This would be cause for celebration, but his awakening was filled with the somewhat concerned voice of a woman over the intercom. She had yelled at him to get moving, her voice seemed familiar to him, but he was unsure. He shook his head as the bright lights above the operating table burnt at his eyes. He swung his body slowly off the table and felt his legs struggle to support his weight. The ache simply confirmed that he had been unconscious for awhile. His eyes roamed the room with a practiced gaze. Seven tables dotted the room. The tables stood at the walls with his in the middle. Several medical instruments were secured to the walls. His eyes lowered to a locker in the corner. The locker was open and inside was a set of armor. He could see the N-7 upon its chest and a warmth filled his body. His mom had been so proud when he had earned his N-7. She had thrown such a big party for him, had ignored military relegations just to hug him upon that stage in Vancouver. He had to make an effort to talk to her as soon as he could. Maybe she could clarify what exactly happened to him. He closed his eyes as he slid the chest plate onto him.

'I was floating aimlessly. My eyes stared blankly at the wreckage of the Normandy scattering around me. This wasn't supposed to happen. Breathe Calmly I told myself. My suit could hold enough oxygen that so long as a ship came by in a few hours I'd be ok. My back hurt so much, I struggled to breathe, but military doctrine kicked in and I ignored the pain and forced myself to breathe. A loud warning in my ears caught my attention. Oxygen levels were depleting at levels that would be associated with venting, panic settled in and I stretched for the tube that connected the oxygen supply. I struggled to grab it, and as I did I made the situation worse. I was panicing and breathing to fast now. I breathed one final breathe before holding it in. Pain filled me as my lungs burnt. This is going to have to be a closed casket. I thought to myself bitterly as my world went black.'

James shook his head, his breathing was fast and sweat caked his body.

"Shepard? You need to get moving. Someone is hacking security to get to you." The woman's voice rang through the intercom. James shook his head clearing the thoughts from his mind and slipped the greaves over his legs. The greaves stabbed into his legs and he felt something be injected into him.

"What the fuck was that?" James said groggily

"I injected a muscle stimulant, it'll make sure your muscles are able to support your weight. It's not permanent, but it'll get you through till we get out of here." The voice responded.

"How'd you do that?"

"I have remote access to your armor. I'll be overdriving your shield battery if things get rough. Shit, Shepard you need to get down the oxygen cans by the door are about to blow." The voice said and Shepard took off hiding behind one of the larger medical tables. If he had been paying more attention to the datapads on the table he'd have seen plans for a control chip to be implanted in his brain. As it was the explosion by the door sent the datapads flying into the wall behind James. The force actually knocked his weakened body onto the floor.

James picked himself up slowly. His body ached and his muscles were tight. He held his gun in his hand like it was a lifeline. His knuckles whitened as he made his way through the medical room he was in. He bent for a moment at the dead woman in the doorway. He turned her over and saw the logo on her outfit. It was reminiscent of Cerberus, but why would Cerberus be here? Were they the ones hacking the lab?

"That scientist should have a comm unit attached to her ear. Take it from her and I'll talk to you directly through that. It should be impossible for us to lose that connection." The voice said and James bent down. He reached behind the red hair of the freckled woman before him. His fingers traced her ear until he felt the tip of the comm unit. With a delicate pull he removed the comm unit from the dead Cerberus woman. The Comm Unit was a small metal hook that dug around the wearer's ear. It extended a small microphone to the wearer's mouth so that they could communicate. He inserted into his ear and heard the woman's voice directly.

"Perfect. Alright Shepard you're doing fine. Just get moving. I'm going to head to you now. I won't be able to keep a track of any mechs coming your way, so shout to me if you are in trouble." The woman said

"I'd like to know the name of the woman helping me." James said reaching down to close the green eyes of the dead woman. He then folded the woman's arms. Be it terrorist or not someone loved this woman. She deserved to be treated with respect. He stood slowly and turned to face the lab.

"My name is Miranda Lawson."

"You're alive, thank God." He whispered but the comm unit picked it up.

"Well I'm pleased ot have made such an impression the first time we met." Miranda said. A grin came to James face. He could let her know right now how he felt. Sure it had been two years and she'd assume him to be dead, but it was fine. He was alive now and he wasn't going to miss this chance.

"You made quite the impression on me Perfection." He said jumping over a downed crate. Out of the corner of his eye he saw a mech taking aim at him. His gun rose faster then the mechanized arms. He fired his pistol quickly into the optics of the mech. It burst apart unable to sustain such heavy damage to such a sensitive part of its wiring.

"How do you know that name?" Miranda's voice came back at him short and clipped.

"You spoke to me with that name. I enjoyed talking with you about whether or not I'd do a good job as a Spectre."

"You're-"

"And you were right. I was checking you out the first time we met."

"You're HSpacerH? Why didn't you ever tell me?" Miranda's voice was cold, but he could feel the sadness in her words.

"I was going to. I was going to tell you everything, but then I saw your name on the list of the dead and I couldn't tell anything to a dead woman."

"I- Look we can talk about this later. For now just focus on getting out of there." Miranda's voice came through the comm. James nodded despite Miranda's inability to see him. He turned to the long hallway before him and took off running. The muscle stimulant was fully pumping in his system, and he felt as strong as he was before he died.

-Ilium-

Ralia opened her eyes slowly and tried to move her body. Her hands were locked above her. She could faintly see the blue glow that was a indicator that the handcuffs were also biotic suppressant. Her eyes roamed down and she found that she was stripped naked her legs were spread and tied to the bedposts before her. Her eyes turned to an Asari standing beside her. The Asari had its face covered, and was wearing a long black gown. There was a long split in the dress at the legs giving Ralia a view of the blue-pebbled skin.

"Hello Ralia Tevos-T'Loak, so good of you to join me. Maybe you could assist me." The Asari's modulated voice rang out

"Go to hell." Ralia spat.

"Tsk, that's no way to speak to me. I just want to ask you a few questions."

"Fuck you, I'm not telling you anything." Ralia said. The Asari stepped forward the gloved hand was placed upon Ralia's stomach. Her muscles tightened as the hand rose to one of her breasts. She was given a gentle grope from her captor.

"I do not think you understand the full extent of your situation here. You have a choice. You can either make this difficult for you or easy. I'll enjoy it either way." The Asari said and she pulled lightly on Ralia's left nipple.

"You're sick. Mark my words I'll get out of here and then I'm going to fucking kill you bitch." Ralia said. The Asari's hand shot out smacking Ralia's face. The strike wasn't meant to bruise or hurt Ralia, but instead to send a message.

"You should be overjoyed it was me that the Shadow Broker decided to use to get you. I mean there are more twisted individuals under the Broker's employ. You instead got one more to your tastes. So unfortunate the other one wasn't there as well. Ah well, I'm sure the Krogan sent after her will be gentle." Her captor said. She lowered her face to Ralia's and the mouth piece split open to reveal blue lips. Her captor placed a kiss on Ralia's crest.

"Now then. How many people does your dear sweet Liara have under her employ." The Asari said

"Fuck you." Ralia shouted and the Asari rose. Her free hand shot to the mask covering her face. The other hand shot to Ralia's core and caressed the dry folds.

"I'd be pleased if you'd make this easier on me Ralia." The Asari said and lowered the mask. There staring at her was Liara. There was a grin on her lover's face before she winked and replaced the mask.

"Liara?" Ralia asked confused

"Yes your lover. How many are in her organization."

"Fuck you." Ralia said. Now that she knew she wasn't in any real danger the fear was gone and instead was replaced by excitement. She had once done something similar to Liara, and was assured that Liara would get revenge for it. As Liara's fingers began to press against her now wet core she had to fight a sigh of happiness.

Liara grinned behind her mask as she watched Ralia fight to moan from her ministrations. Ralia was always so responsive to her touch that it made her ecstatic to see her like this. In this moment the normally strong woman was under Liara's control. Her eyes drifted to an item she had brought on the desk. It would be the final touch in sending Ralia over the edge. She didn't understand the fascination other species had with the phallic shaped object, but she would not object to offering pleasure to her lover and to herself. For now though she'd focus on making Ralia go crazy under her touch.


	9. Chapter 9

A/N: So the first two chapters (8 and 9) are exposition to the rest of ME2. Next chapter we'll get the story of two hundred years ago (Or a bit of it). Also next chapter will focus solely on James. For a while we'll leave Liara and Ralia in their home on Ilium (until James goes to Ilium). Also guys please check out Wavering Fortitude for a more Shepard centric story. (It's FemShep/Liara)

Chapter 9:

-Two Weeks Before Shepard awakes-

The Batarian entered Afterlife with a calm grace. His movements did not show the inner turmoil the man was going through. The images of his children screaming in pain as Aria's troops fired upon them. He grit his teeth as he made his way up the stairs to where Aria sat. He was not denied access to his quarry's residence. It had taken months of planning, but his revenge was at hand.

"Anto. What news do you bring?" Aria's voice came to him soft and seductive, but still teeming with power. What once would have enticed him to make the Asari happy now brought a desire to harm her.

"I have a message for you from an old friend." Anto said reciting the words he had repeated over and over in his mind. He brought his omnitool up and with a swipe of his hand a video began to play. As the Asari in the video came into view Anto reached into his pocket fingering the trigger. He placed his thumb over it, but did not press down yet.

Aria's face turned into a snarl as Councilor Tevos' face came into view. The councilor smiled lightly before shifting the camera and showing Anto standing beside her.

"Oh my dear Aria. I've enjoyed our game these last two hundred years, but I'm afraid it comes to a close now." Tevos said and the camera shifted once more to a trigger in Anto's hand. The video cut out and Aria's eyes turned back in anger at Anto. Her biotics flared, but before she could act Anto pressed down on the trigger. With a loud beep the trigger sent out a pulse to the several bombs dotting Omega and Afterlife. Aria reacted sending her biotics around herself to protect herself from the blast. With a blaze Aria was sent hurtling through the glass behind her. Her body screamed in pain as explosions rocked her barrier. Fire came crashing down around her as she sailed through the air from the initial explosion. She bit down on her lip to stop herself from screaming in pain as her barrier failed her. The flames burnt at Aria's skin. Another explosion rocked Omega and Aria's world went black as she was thrust out of Afterlife.

-Citadel Purgatory-

Garrus Vakarian sat staring blankly at the drink in his hand, he was trying to remember what drink he had ordered. It had become a routine for him, wake up, get dressed, drink, eat lunch, drink, shower, drink more. He rarely was sure of what he chose, so long as it was Dextro-Amino, he'd drink. With a bitter laugh he tossed the drink back. It was Menae Brandy, a rare drink and not his favorite. His throat burnt as he felt the liquor slid down, Menae Brandy was known for it's burning taste.

"Fuck that's shit." He could practically hear her voice telling him. His lover had always hated that drink, but she'd drink it with him. He swirled the drink in his hand and smiled lightly.

"Then don't drink it." He'd respond. She'd always laugh at that and place her taloned fingers upon his cheek lightly. She'd then slap him with a laugh. He'd fake being hurt, and she'd kiss him lightly. It was a game for them back then. Drink, a kiss and then whispered words as they had a private duel in their room. Back then things were easier.

He raised a taloned hand signaling for another drink and the Asari Bartender acquiesced. As the drink swirled in front of him, he could see those eyes staring back him, the eyes of Lantar Sidonis, the one who killed his lover. Anger filled his being and as always he pushed the drink away from him.

-Citadel Asari Embassy-

Tevos smiled happily as the Salarian Spectre deposited the unconscious, and bound form of Aria T'Loak. Her gambit played off and Aria was weakened significantly from the blast. It had been two weeks since the explosion and Aria had remained unconscious since then. The Spectre had been consistently administering drugs to the Queen of Omega to ensure she remained unresponsive. He had placed several biotic dampening cuffs around her. Two sets bound wrist to forearm, behind the Asari's back. A third set bound the knees and a fourth bound the ankles.

"Excellent work Joudom Bau. How goes the reconstruction on Omega? Any word on where Liselle T'Loak is?" Tevos asked. The Spectre nodded his head and smiled.

"Dr. Mordin Solus is treating wounded, and Huntress Irissa and several other Commandos are checking the minds of the wounded for any Aria loyalists. According to the last report, sent to me fifteen minutes before I stepped in here, many of the core structures are being rebuilt, and we are having teams of STG patrol and act as a police force upon the lawless society. Liselle T'Loak is still missing. Recovery operations are underway." Joudom said quickly.

"Perfect. Leave Aria T'Loak here, but place her on the couch over there." Tevos said pointing to a black leather couch. She had bought the couch specifically for this occasion. Aria T'Loak's love of the couch in Afterlife was well known, and so Tevos decided to make the same type of couch her place of imprisonment. Joudom Bau placed Aria T'Loak lying down across the couch. With a nod the Salarian left the room leaving Tevos alone with her captive. She had sent the regular Asari maidens that convened around the fountains away, as they were too innocent to be around the Queen Bitch of Omega. Tevos sparked her biotics sending a wave into Aria causing the woman to shake in her bonds. The blast forced Aria's biotics to try and protect her from pain, which caused the biotic dampening cuffs to shock the Asari painfully. Aria's eye shot open.

"Hello Aria." Tevos said with a grin and Aria turned her face to the sound of the voice.

-Project Lazarus Station-

James shuddered as the voice of Miranda Lawson crackled from interference. It was apparent she was in some trouble, and despite his desire to run to her he focused upon his task. Any attempt to reconnect with his friend would have to be put on hold as he entered the main passageway of Project Lazarus Station. It was a connecting room between the hundreds of sections to this specific Station. The location he entered the crossway. There were hundreds of several copies of this passageway around him, but on his stood a singular black man firing upon a set of mechs. James ran forward his pistol raised and years of war and skirmishes came to fruition as he placed singular shots into the optics of three mechs. He slid behind cover and turned briefly to the man beside him.

"Shepard? Shit. Things have to be messed if Miranda has you running around." The man said

"Really I'm your first clue that things are fucked not the mechs?" The man made to answer James question. The anger budding in the man's face was readily apparent, but it was defused when a shot rang out fracturing the glass of the walkway they hid behind. In an instant James was moving his gun pulled up and prepared to fire. The man beside him lifted in the air one of the mechs and with an angry yank the mech was flying towards him.

-Ilium-

Liara watched as Ralia fought against her bonds, fought to get more of her finger inside of her. She wanted desperately to just feel her warmth directly and not through the gloved finger, but that would have to wait. For now the enjoyment she got from watching her love squirm under her touch was overwhelming. Liara could feel her own azure pulse with desire.

"You're enjoying this aren't you? Aren't you?" Liara said using the voice modulator in her suit. She watched Ralia twitch as she fought her initial reaction to agree to the pleasure Liara was giving her. She buried a second finger in Ralia's twitching azure. Ralia moaned loudly before she bit down on her lip.

"No I'm not." Ralia weakly murmured. A grin came to Liara's face as she pulled her fingers from Ralia. She raised the fingers to Ralia's lips and shoved them in. She felt the warm tongue on her fingers and moaned lightly as Ralia's tongue flicked around her fingers.

"Look at you. You don't even care that it's your own essence upon my gloved fingers do you? You little slut." Liara whispered

"I'll ask you again how many people does your lover have under her employ. Answer me and maybe just maybe I'll let you finish." Liara said pulling the fingers from her lover's mouth. She moved around to the desk and grabbed the thin blue instrument. She opened the folds of her black coat and slid it into herself. She pulled down on the zipper at the top and pulled it down to open the bodice. She pulled it back and off herself. Her blue breasts exposed to the dark room. She heard Ralia's breath hitched and felt pride swell in her being. Her body always drew such a response from her lover. She stared at Ralia's face before slowly pulling the black helmet off herself. Their eyes met and Ralia's eyes faded to black. She could feel Ralia's mind knocking on hers, but she denied the access.

"Answer my question!" Liara yelled and she watched the shock spread onto Ralia's face.

"Twenty-three." Ralia answered, it was a lie, but for the most part it was acceptable. Liara couldn't deny her desire to enter Ralia's mind, to be surrounded by Ralia's presence. She couldn't deny herself the feeling of Ralia taking all of her within herself. She barreled into Ralia's willing mind with pleasure. She could feel the overwhelming lust coursing through Ralia's body and mind.

'Liara my love.' Liara felt Ralia scream in her mind. Liara slowly slid over her lover, the blue instrument rubbed against Ralia's warmth. Liara could feel it rubbing against herself, just as well as she felt her lover rubbing against it. With a breathy moan Liara pushed deep into her lover. Ralia followed in kind moaning in ecstasy as her lover's mind wrapped around her, and as her own walls wrapped around her lover. With a gentle push Liara entered her more and more until their pelvis' touched.

'Goddess you feel so nice.' Liara whispered in the meld. She pulled back before sliding fully inside her lover. Once more the pair screamed in ecstasy. Ralia's end came faster due to overstimulation, but Liara followed close after as the meld drew herself in. The pair felt the other filling them and the pleasure of filling the other before the meld broke partially apart. Soon Liara could only feel herself within Ralia's azure, but she could still feel her lovers mind within. Liara looked up into her lover's black eyes and placed a warm kiss on her lips. Their tongues met one another quickly, begging for more of the other. Ralia broke the kiss and held Liara close. Liara's head slipped into the crook of her lovers neck.

'Goodnight Siame.' Liara whispered as she felt Ralia's breath even out. Liara's tired eyes closed and soon the two lovers fell into a blissful sleep. Their minds intertwined in their sleep and dreams became one.


	10. Chapter 10

A/N IMPORTANT:

So originally I was going to do every single mission in ME2 in depth, but as I'm sure you've noticed my main focus is on Tevos/Aria and Liara/Ralia it doesn't make as much sense to do that. Now I'll touch on what happening on Normandy at intervals and go into Shepard/Miranda romance a bit, but I'll focus on where the story is actually taking place. I was doing an outline and realized that if I added every mission plus all my changes I'd have forty ME2 chapters… (At my normal rate of around 2k a chapter) I thought then about making chapters longer, but that would delay my output by a week or two depending on the length… Anyway I'll be doing missions I find important to my story, but I will also allow a poll for certain missions that I can work well into my story.

Missions that will be included (Due to changes in my story):

Horizon

Miranda's Loyalty

Garrus' Loyalty

LOTSB (Obviously)

Collector Ship

Tali's Loyalty

Poll Choices: (As these are the only ones I've planned out that are nonessential, but still work on story)

Jacob's Loyalty

Kasumi's Loyalty

Legion's Loyalty

Project Overlord

Also this chapter is a focus on the inciting incident of the whole Tevos/Aria fight. I tamed it down and made it less cruel. (There's a whole chunk I had to remove and it's pretty obvious where I did that)

Chapter 10 Betrayal

-Two Hundred Years Ago-

Aria looked down upon her bondmate as she collapsed onto the bed. The wailing cries of a newborn filled the room and shortly a small child was in Tevos' arms. Aria allowed a warm smile to grace her face and bent down placing her lips upon the child's crests. The baby giggled happily and for a moment Aria pushed her mind into her child. She felt the small baby accept her presence, felt Tevos there within their child.

"Look at her Aria. Our baby." Tevos spoke her voice hoarse from the difficult labor. Matrons nearing the start of the Matriarch stage were not typically supposed to get pregnant as it put undue stress on both the child and the mother. Even in perfect settings Asari labor was difficult as their main gift was cut off when they were pregnant. During the Asari Tribal Era, pregnant Asari were the weak point in a tribe, as they could not use their own biotics without putting stress on the child. It was recorded that after birth a mother's biotics were completely drained from her, and as such mother's tended to pass out shortly after the baby was born. This was not the case for Tevos, she was always capable of the impossible and while she was tired she did not seem to be teetering on the edge of consciousness.

"Yes she's beautiful, our little Liselle." Aria whispered tears dotting her eyes as she kissed her baby's crests. There was minor disturbance as the door to the hospital room opened and Aria was quickly moving in response. The gun she kept at her side was pulled and aimed directly at the door. Her gun lowered when she realized it was simply the councilors along with Tevos' attendant, Nivea Tanso.

"Good day Councilor, Aria." Nivea said her mandibles flaring slightly as she stared at the baby in Tevos' arms. Nivea stepped forward to the bedside and knelt. Her head lowered and her left arm held tightly to her chest.

"I offer my gun and body to your child's protection."

"Rise old friend, your offer is welcome, thank you." Tevos said and Nivea rose her red tattoos glistened as the light next to the hospital bed caught them slightly. Nivea lowered a long talon to the sleeping child and stroked her cheek.

"She'll be a strong one, just like her mother and father." The Turian Councilor, Quiessan said.

"Yes she will. Excellent genetics. Also Parentage both strong figures in galaxy. She can garner peace between Terminus and Council." Sheik, the Salarian councilor spoke up. His words were quick and short. His own fingers tied ran together as his mind began to process the situation before him.

"Asari child can spend formative years between Citadel and Omega, garner respect of both and use to unite both as a strong front. She can bring peace in her time to the galaxy." Sheik continued. As he spoke Aria's eyes narrowed, they were planning her baby's life before she could even understand what was going on.

"She will do no such thing. She will choose her path Councilor." Aria spoke angrily.

"Try and understand Aria. Your union with Tevos brought peace, but it can only last so long. With the child we can continue this peace." Quiessan said. Aria stepped forward her biotics flaring angrily. Both Sheik and Quiessan took a step back. Unseen to Aria Nivea's hand shot to the gun at her waist.

"Aria. Liselle will never have a normal life because of who we are, but she can have peace. She can live a life without feeling the horros of war like we have. The councilors are right. This is the best course of action." Tevos said her voice calm and soothing, but Aria was heaing none of it. Instead of relaxing her Tevos' words further angered Aria. Her hand shot to the gun at her waist and with practiced ease it was drawn and two shots rang out in the room. Both Quiessan and Sheik fell dead. Aria rounded on Nivea only to be met with her own raised pistol. Aria raised her own but instead of pointing it at Nivea she pointed it at her bondmate.

"Aria." Tevos' choked out, inwardly cursing her inability to use her own biotics. Her heart ached in her chest as she saw the gun in Aria's hand, but what hurt the most was the way Aria looked at her now. Gone was the looks of love and adoration, now it was replaced by hatred and disgust.

"Go ahead shoot Nivea, shoot me and Tevos dies as well. We both know I'll pull my trigger just before that bullet leaves the barrel." Aria said coldly

"Aria please. What are you doing?" Tevos said

"What needs to be done for my daughter." Aria said. Aria pushed on the link that bound Tevos to her and forcefully shattered it. Pain blossomed in her head and Tevos screamed as the pain was compounded on her already aching body. Nivea turned to look at Tevos and in that moment Aria turned the barrel of her gun at Nivea's head and fired. Nivea fell backward knocking the light off the bedside. Aria stepped forward and pulled on her former bondmate. She brought Tevos to her feet and pulled her own gun to her head. Tevos' hands remained around her child, holding the child like it was a lifeline. With a quick flick of the wrist Aria's omnitool was calling her own pilot.

"Yo, Why you calling me? Shouldn't you be off having fun with that lover of yours?" Her pilots voice rang through the channel.

"Ellyna, change of plans. Tevos and I are coming to the ship. When we get there you're to take my daughter from Tevos and get us out of here. Fly straight to Omega. Understood?"

"Sure thing boss!" Ellyna said happily. With that out of the way Aria wrapped her arm around Tevos' neck and placed her gun at Tevos' head.

"Walk. You are going to walk all the way to my docking bay." Aria growled out. Tevos nodded her head tears streaming down her face, and they left the room. The door closed silently behind them leaving behind both their bond and peace between their systems. A force of C-Sec had been deployed as the shots from Aria's pistol alerted the already stationed C-Sec officers. Their guns aimed directly at Aria and Tevos.

"Here's what's going to happen boys. You try and shoot me I kill the Asari councilor and most likely you'll also cause the death of the baby in her arms. So instead of doing something so undeniably stupid like that, you are going to step aside and let me leave. If you don't within the next three seconds I'm shooting Tevos here." Aria said and the C-Sec officers moved. Their guns remained aimed at Aria as she pass through them. When she was behind them she pulled the gun from Tevos' head and quickly turned around throwing out a large wave of biotics at the C-Sec team. The officers were knocked to their asses and Aria continued her path through the hospital. When the knowledge that Aria and Tevos were bonded had gotten out riots had filled the streets and more then once there was an attempt on their lives. After such C-Sec had provided streets for them to use, along with a private stairwell straight to Aria's Docking Bay. These path allowed Aria to get to where her ship was with no further altercations. When she arrived at where her ship was she stepped onto the docking platform and Ellyna, an Asari maiden, stepped forward to take the child from Tevos.

Three C-Sec officers arrived on the scene right as Ellyna took Liselle into the ship.

"Please Aria stop this." Tevos cried out. With an angry shove Aria pushed Tevos into the arms of the C-Sec officers before firing a bullet into Tevos' leg. The bullet caused her to scream and collapse. It was then that Aria raised a barrier around herself and turned to get into her ship. Bullets rang out grazing her barrier, but it would not falter. Aria entered her ship and it took off.

Tevos watched Aria's ship leave before darkness claimed her and she slipped into the loving embrace of the goddess.


	11. Chapter 11

A/N:

Important to know Aria and Tevos' age during the events of ME1 is 824 and 817 respectively. Ralia and Liara's ages are 107 and 108. Please leave reviews guys.. It really makes it easier for me to know how you are enjoying the story. Next chapter will be Horizon! (So large skip to that point)

Chapter 11:

Six hundred Years ago-

Thessia was in the throws of winter, silver snowflakes fell from the sky in a serene dance, they fell upon the silver snow upon the ground and disappeared into the monotony. Two Asari danced happily in the snow. One purple threw her head back opening her mouth and eating the falling snow. The blue Asari sighed and giggled at her friend. They separated with a laugh and fell into the snow spreading their legs

"Aria." Tevos said turning to look upon her friend. Her heavy winter coat crinkled as she moved. She placed a gloved hand upon her temple to stare at her friend.

"Yeah Thea?" Aria said turning her gray eyes upon Tevos.

"You ever think about going out into the space beyond and see what you can do for the galaxy?"

"Of course I want to take a look at the galaxy, but only if you're by my side." Aria said

"I'll always be by your side Aria."

"Then yeah, let's go sometime." Aria said smiling. She reached out a hand and Tevos reached out and their hands clasped one another tight.

-Citadel Present-

In the bottome shelf of Tevos' desk sat a single picture, a picture that never faltered in its image, a picture of two Asari. The picture showed Aria throwing her arms around Tevos' shoulders, behind them was a ship. It was the first time they went out into space, they were only three hundred at the time. Their smiles so wide and so innocent, their faces so different now from what they were. It was a cruel reminder to Tevos of what she lost. She pulled the picture from its resting place and stood.

Slowly she walked over to where Aria sat glaring at her. She sat down at a chair across the way before turning the picture to her. For a moment Aria's eyes softened before she looked back up at Tevos.

"Aria. You ever wonder if we made a mistake leaving Thessia all those years ago?" Tevos asked. Her voice was raw and she was trying desperately to hold back tears. Aria looked up into Tevos' eyes her gray eyes clouded with anger. It had been two hundred and seventeen years to day since Aria and Tevos' bond had been torn apart.

"No. The mistake I made was thinking I could love you." Aria said her words laced with anger. She watched the emotions flash through Tevos' face and for a moment she felt regret at herself for her actions. The pain in Tevos' face was so evident that the part of Aria that still loved the Asari before her reached out and wanted to wipe the unshed tears away. She watched Tevos stand and take the picture away. She turned away from Aria and walked back to her desk.

"As of yesterday we found Liselle. She's being kept on Omega under guard. If you step out of line, if you even try to escape we will kill Liselle." Tevos said as she put the picture away.

"Fuck you!" Aria shouted her heart aching.

"I'd stop talking if I were you Aria." Tevos said

Silence reigned in the room and Tevos sighed in sadness as she could see Aria's angry eyes still staring at her out of the corner of her own eyes. She steeled herself and looked at the message from Liara. She quickly sent a message to Mordin Solus on Omega and prepared for the next step. She opened a comm link to her assistant.

"Mycea, please get C-Sec to get Garrus Vakarian from his bar stool. I'll be meeting with him."

"You want me to let him into your office?"

"No, that would not be prudent. I'll meet with him in the garden."

"Of course Councilor." Mycea said and her comm went silent. Tevos stood up before pressing a small switch on her desk. The couch that Aria laid upon was enveloped in a blue containment field, developed by the Salarians to stop Yahgs from behind able to get out containment. It was designed to even stop bullets provided the energy to the system didn't fail. With a final look at Aria and a shuddering sigh Tevos left the room. It was time for the Councilor to continue her work in securing her people's and maybe the galaxy's future.

-Ilium-

Ralia read the news again, Omega fractured, Liselle missing and Aria T'Loak in custody. In one night while she enjoyed herself on Ilium her sister disappeared, and her mother was in jail. Yes she still believed in Aria, she was still her dear mother despite how things had gone. Aria T'Loak was still her mother and Tevos was her new father. She had said as much to Tevos, and while Tevos was not thrilled to share a spotlight with Aria she understood. It was for this reason that when she saw the news of Aria's arrest she found herself unsure of what to do. In normal days she'd have gone rushing for her mother to free her, but now what could she do. Could she uproot her life with Liara for a simple goal of assisting her mother? Could she leave Liara here and go off in search of her sister? Her answer came in the form of her love walking into the bedroom.

Liara walked in carrying a small tray of food her hips swayed as Ralia's eyes poured over her naked form. She had become so pleased by her lover's affections for her body that she actively sought them out. It was not unheard of for Liara to strip when she got home and to sit and await Ralia's arrival later in the day. Liara made her way to the bed and placed the tray around her lover's lap.

"So one of my little feathers has found something interesting. Commander Shepard stands on the Normandy once more." Liara said slipping beside her lover.

"Oh? That is good news. So our gambit went well?" Ralia said placing a gentle kiss on her lover's crests as Liara settled onto her shoulder.  
"Yes we'll have continued access to the Normandy's flight patterns, it seems they are en route to Omega to pick up Mordin Solus. I sent a message ahead to Tevos to relieve him of his duty there."

"I see." Ralia said picking at the greens of her meal. A typical Asari breakfast was a salad with candied nuts mixed in. The candied nuts sped up the biotic recovery and helped facilitate healthy melding. It was found that the Earth-grown nut, called the pecan, was a great boost to their biotics. It didn't beat any Thessia-grown nuts, but it was a cheaper nut and could be purchased on most colonies. As it was Liara never skimped on the nuts she used in her breakfasts and they had the Armali-grown Aresh. It was similar in size and texture to the human pecan, but it burst with a sweet flavor that could overwhelm a human's mouth. To an Asari's palette the Aresh was a gift from the Goddess herself.

"She's going to release him and have him report to her about the goings on the ground trips on the Normandy. He'll also keep a track and see if Shepard is himself or if Cerberus did anything to him." Liara said placing a hand on her lover's chest. Her lover turned to her and gray eyes met blue. Liara leaned upward placing a gentle kiss on her lover's lips.

"Rali. Stay here with me. I need you by my side my love. I know." Liara said before resting her forehead on her partner's.

"I know you wish to find where Liselle is. I know you wish to speak with Aria. But I urge you to be patient. I have asked some of our contacts to look into Liselle's location. And you know you can't speak with Aria. That'd be a violation of your agreement with the Matriarchs."

"Fuck the Matriarchs. She's my mother Liara."

"Yes and she abandoned you when Omega was threatened. She holds no love in her heart for you." Liara said the memories of when she went to Omega came back to her. The cold way Aria spoke about Ralia, the way she would not even claim her to be her child. It had torn at Liara's heart to see someone throw their child away as Aria did, more so when it was her partner's mother doing so. She had acted in anger and had broken the glass frames around Aria's couch before walking away after calling her several Asari curses.

"Li I-"

"There is nothing you need to say my love. I know you. I know you want to find your sister and we will. But for now we need to stay on Ilium. We have work to do here. Nyxeris found some information that may help us narrow down who is spying on our little venture here." Liara said shifting off the bed. She bent down ever so slowly knowing that her lover's eyes were on her backside. With a grin she slightly separated her legs so that the tips of her breasts could be seen through them. She reached forward before slipping on a pair of underwear. She raised them ever so slowly before jumping forward as Ralia's hands lashed out. Purple hands barely missed her arms and she laughed as Ralia tumbled off the bed.


	12. Chapter 12

A/N: So I know I promised all of Horizon in this chapter but I forgot about something important for my version of Priority: Thessia in ME3. I've had that whole chapter planned out for so long that it's eating at me. I am rushing to ME3 and to the after math as that's what a lot of people want to see. I just hope you enjoy my changes to ME3. This Chapter is practice for some of the more action packed chapters coming up. Let me know how it goes please! Also I kind of scrapped horizon in general… I really don't see a point in showing Ashley again right now. The scene there hasn't changed and yeah. The whole reason I was going to do Horizon was to practice a fight before I do LOTSB, but I mean I still have Miranda's Loyalty mission. And I feel that one is MUCH more important then Horizon. I mean honestly I haven't changed anything that happens there. I promise though next chapter will be long. I have several things that need to happen when Shepard gets to Ilium. We are rushing to the end of ME2 I expect it to be maybe six more chapters before start of Collector mission. Which means maybe three more chapters after that before we get to the skip between ME2 and ME3, which I don't plan to skip in my story. Anyway Enjoy! Please Review.

Chapter 12:

On the seventh planet of the Athena Nebula sat ruins of a city long forgotten. It would have once been rebuilt, but the Matriarch Society condemned it to be a training locale for Asari Commandos. The original name of the planet was lost to the galactic civilization and instead it was known by the colloquial term Kurisi. Directly transalted into Alliance standard English Kurisi meant Center of Death. It was assumed that the name came from the fact that several Asari Commandos spoke about how the planet tore them apart and created the Commandos that they were now. To those outside the Asari military and Asari politics the exact layout of the planet was an unknown. The average Asari knew Kurisi to be the burning red planet that seemed to light up the night sky on the rare nights that it was visible. As for Aethyta she knew the planet as her new home. She had been sent by the Matriarch Society to oversee the training of the new Commandos. As such she spent much of her time going over videos from the several cameras dotting the planet's many training grounds. Her current fascination was with the new T'Soni Commandos, they had come and taken the planet by storm and had made themselves known as the best of the best. Now every Asari Commando on the planet was being held to their standard and being trained in their regiment. Had Aethyta not known exactly why the training was happening even she would have said that the T'Soni Commandos could do with some relaxation, but with the threat looming over Thessia no training was going to far.

Kurisi Training Field Seventeen.

Training Field Seventeen was a fully destructible version of The Thessian Capital, Athame, in which the Temple of Athame was located. It was built to actually recreate several different cities in Asari Space, but the T'Soni Commandos were currently using the Athame setting. A group of three Commandos stood atop one of the several skyscrapers that dotted the Athame skyline. The first Commando was the Captain of the T'Soni Commandos, Alana T'Leya, T'Leya was the name all the T'Soni Commandos took upon getting their tattoos. The T'Soni Tattoo was two dark red stripes running down from under the eyes of the Asari, it meant the tears of blood the T'Soni clan shed to build Armali into the city it was now. It was a showing of their strength as the sole governing body in Armali, and while the house had fallen under disarray after the betrayal of Matriarch Benezia Armali still saw itself under the rule of the now vacant Liara T'Soni. The Second Commando was the Captain of the T'Soni Talon fighters, Ella T'Leya. The Final Commando was Cyessa T'Leya the Captain of the T'Soni Infiltrators. These three represented the best of the T'Soni Commandos and as such it was known they'd be successful in their operation on the field.

The Three Commandos were to be performing a Biotic drop while under fire. The Commandos would have to stop their biotics slowing their drop at key intervals to protect themselves from a barrage of bullets as well as shrapnel as the building behind them blew apart. The bullets that would be fired upon them were paint slugs, they'd bruise the Commandos and leave a small dot of paint where the shot landed. For every shot the Commandos took there'd be a set of laps around one of Kurisi's obstacle courses. On several ships around the skyscraper were Asari Commandos aiming their rifles at the three Commandos. Not only would the Commandos have to deal with the crashing of the building behind them their target were three open skycars at the bottom of the skyscraper. They'd have to stop at the vehicles and slip into the skycars and take off into the field. The Talons around them would follow the skycars and fire slugs that would send the controls into disarray. If shot the skycar would enter a landing protocol and force the Captain to the ground where their mission would end. The goal was for them to escape the city as the V.I. operating the training field blew the city to bits around them. The Talon fighters were expendable, but all three Captains had to escape. There was no risk of death as the three captains along with all the Commandos around them were nothing more then holographic entities. Outside the training field stood a choir of Commandos each standing in a large chamber. The chamber scanned their body and created an image of them in the city. The image would follow each action they made. A call went up as the V.I. prepared to blow the skyscraper the Commandos stood upon.

"Three seconds until detonation." The V.I.'s voice sounded out and the Commandos were on the move.

Alana moved first jumping over the edge and opening a field around her. Her biotics swirled creating a shield around her as she fell quickly. Three talons went after her, their shuttle bays open and rifle fire punctuated the sky. Ella and Cyessa followed her closely. Each of them became a blur of blue biotics as they plummeted. Suddenly the blue fields shortened and they were standing as they fell. They pulled their rifles from their backs. The fields expanded covering them all in a circle as they nodded to each other. The fields began to swirl and opened at random intervals as they shot out of the field. The Talon fighters took off as their holographic hulls came under fire. They swirled around the three Commandos until one Talon fighter made the decision to unload their shuttle bay occupants. Suddenly there were twenty Asari commandos in the air. One of them neared the biotic field the Captains were in. Her biotics glowed as she penetrated the field. Her hands lashed out as she pulled a single pistol from her waist. Cyessa was already moving. Her rifle butt slammed into the holographic Asari's face causing blood to pool from the broken nose. Her rifle barrel was then quickly directed at the Asari and she unloaded the clip into her fellow Commando's body. The Commando flickered from view and Cyessa looked down.

"Target in sight begin separation." Cyessa called and the fields shortened once more. Each Captain was filled with a small blue field and they slowed greatly. Their bodies shook in their chambers as they came under duress from the force of the gravity on Kurisi. The Captains slipped into their skycars and the V.I. called out once more.

"Initiating stage two." As those three words boomed throughout the field every single building in Athame blew up. Spraying debris everywhere. The sky cars started up and the Three Captains took off. They weaved under falling skyscrapers. It wasn't until they were in the estates of Athame that the Talon fighters came into view. In front of the three Captains was an army of Talon fighters. Each fighter was maneuverable and capable of making sudden turns. The fighters came charging forward and the skycars took off flying low. They shot under the trees of that dotted the estates the trees lit aflame as the shots from the talons caught them. One of the three skycars stuttered and almost stalled out as a falling branch clipped it. Three Talon fighters divebombed the skycars the Captains banked suddenly causing the three ships to crash into the ground. The Skycars shot up into the sky spiraling around one another before banking out out of the city. The city slowly disintegrated as the simulation ended.

-In the Observation room-

Aethyta couldn't help but smile as she looked upon her daughters Commandos. They were truly preparing for the worst. Her eyes flittered to a small picture at her desk. She ran her fingers over the blue face projected in the image. Her eyes watered slightly as she thought of the daughter who never knew her. With a sigh Aethyta turned back to the videos before her. Her work wasn;t finished, maybe if she got lucky she'd get a break and be able to visit her daughter and tell her all the things she should have said. Tell her how she wished she had stayed with Benezia, how she wished she could have seen her little wing grow up into the Asari she was now. With a shake of her head she steeled herself and pushed the intercom before her. Her work wasn't finished she still had to get the other Commandos to the level of the three Captains.


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

Liara and Ralia sat in Liara's office awaiting Shepard's arrival. The call had just come through that the Normandy was seen docking as such they had left their quiet morning in and came to work. Ralia made herself comfortable on a white couch on the left wall while Liara went through the paperwork before her. Liara's assistant Nyxeris continued to bring in more work for Liara to do as Ralia sat going over the information Nyxeris had provided on the Observer. Liara turned her head to the window as she opened a call with one of her clients. Her eyes followed the form of Shepard as he and his two companions made their way through the trading grounds of Ilium. The woman standing at his side was the same one that Liara had given his body to two years ago. The way she carried herself still as resolute and proud of herself as she was all those years ago, but there was something else in her step. Even from the distance Liara was from the trio Liara could see how Shepard seemed to favor the side with the woman instead of the side with Garrus standing beside him. The woman on Shepard's left cast glances at him and if Liara hadn't spent so much time around a human crew she may have misunderstood the look as pure friendship. No the look the woman gave Shepard was one of lust and love and it caused Liara's eyes to narrow. Muting the call for a minute as the man before her rambled on about how her prices were to steep for the information provided Liara raised her hand and pointed down at where Shepard was. Ralia stood and made her way to the window. Her eyes feasted on the sight of the trading grounds before she stared at the woman. Her eyes narrowed and she typed at her omnitool. She turned the message to Liara who was back to her call.

"Correct me if I'm wrong, but I remember meeting someone who looked like her. Twin?" The message read and Liara shook her head before the trio disappeared to the stairwell that would lead to their office. Liara listened to the door open and decided to end the call with the man before her.

"Have you ever faced an Asari Commando Unit before? Few humans have. I'll make this easy for you. Either you pay me or I will flay you alive." Liara said her eyes narrowing. She enjoyed the look of fear in the man's eyes before she spoke again. "With my mind." The call stuttered out as she forcefully hung up the call.

"Shepard." Ralia spoke up.

"It is good to see you two again." James said stepping forward. Ralia was upon him wrapping her arms around his torso before burying her face into his shoulder.

"I have missed you my friend." Ralia whispered tears gathering in her eyes. She had known he'd be alive, but to see him before her was to much. Her friend was alive, the one who had rescued her when all hope was lost. The one who directly caused Liara and her to stop dancing around their feelings. Her life had forever changed all because of this human before her.  
"And I you." James spoke breaking from the hug slowly. He was then assaulted by another hug from Liara.

"My sources had said you were alive, but it is very different to see you in person Commander." Liara said gently

"Not to sound bitter, but what about me?" Garrus said

"Garrus." Liara said her voice lowering as she stepped forward placing a hand in his.

"I'm so sorry to hear about Lilian Vyril." She whispered.

"We had sent people to hunt down Lantar Sidonis, but he seemed to fade away on the Citadel. It took us awhile, but we found him." Ralia said opening a drawer in Liara's desk.

"You found him? How?"

"I'm a very good information broker Garrus." Liara said smiling.

"Yes this is all good and all, but we were hoping you could provide us with information about a Justicar by the name of Samara." Miranda cut in her voice cold.

"Quite. This holds the information on where Lantar Sidonis disappeared to. If you wish we can arrange a meeting, but that may take awhile." Ralia said pulling a datapad out and throwing it to Garrus. Liara moved around Shepard and her desk before opening the computer on her desk. Her fingers glossed over the orange keys as a picture of the Justicar lit up. Her teal skin and cold eyes stared at Liara as she read the information provided on the Justicar.

"No I'll take it from here." Garrus said his voice hard as he scoured the datapad before him.

"Liara. I was wondering if you and Ralia'd come-"

"You want Ralia and me to follow you on the Normandy SR-2 after the Collectors. I am sorry Commander, but we can do no such thing. Your business will require you to remain around the still lawless Terminus systems, and Ralia and I do not wish to be within those systems. I am sorry Commander, but we will not be going with you this time." Liara said not looking up from the information before her.

"Liara I-"

"Justicar Samara checked in with the Ilium security twelve night cycles ago. She has been making some noise in the recent day. It seems there's been a clash between her and the eclipse sisters. Detective Anaya has been ordered to capture the Justicar. A stupid order, but what can be done when the higher ups do not understand Asari culture." Liara said

"She's going to die if she goes after the Justicar." Ralia whispered

"Why? The Justicar would just kill this detective for no reason?" Shepard said sitting down at the chair infront of Liara's desk. Miranda slipped into the other chair and Garrus leaned against the wall by the door. Ralia slipped back to her couch a hard look marring her face.

"No not just on a whim. The Justicars are an order made to keep the peace in Asari space. They are the highest police system in Asari culture and more then that they are ruthless. Their code would tell them to kill any criminal before them indiscriminately. Justicar's can not be impeded in their investigation, and should a police force try and stop them they'd either have to fight or give up their quarry. No Justicar will give up their quarry. It is rare that a Justicar would leave Asari space though. For Justicar Samara to be so far from Asari space, there must be some outlying reason." Liara said staring at the words before her. One word blares in her mind Ardat-Yakshi.

"It can't be. Shepard. You can't stop this Justicar. She's hunting someone dangerous. Someone dangerous to every person out there, someone who can kill without people understanding what's happening." Liara whispered her voice frantic.

"We're going after the Collectors. What's more dangerous then that except for the Reapers?" Garrus snorted out.

"She's hunting an Ardat-Yakshi that escaped the monastery." Liara said quietly. Garrus pushed off the wall in shock. Ralia leaned forward her eyes widening.

"Ardat-Yakshi?" Miranda spoke up her eyes raised incredulously.

"Killer Asaris. That's all you need to know."

"I need her help. If you two can't come then I need a source of powerful biotics. I will have to peel her from her mission somehow." Shepard said.

"If you must. Shepard, Justicars tend to be drawn to impossible odds. You may be able to convince her to help you, but I must ask that you help her capture this Ardat-Yakshi. Check in with Detective Anaya. I can't access her files on where the Justicar is currently holed up, but she is preparing a march against the Justicar soon." Liara said shaking her head. Shepard nodded and left the office. Liara's eyes shot to Ralia who was walking out the door.

"Ralia?" Liara called as the door closed. Ralia bounded down the stairs as she chased after Shepard. She met him at the bottom of the stairs.

"Shepard. If you do manage to convince the Justicar to come with you can you bring her back up to Liara's office? I want to ask her some questions." Ralia said her hands folding over one another in embarrassment.

"Of course." Shepard said and Ralia nodded her head. She turned on her heel and made her way back up the stairs. She slipped onto the couch ignoring Liara's words.

She had been doing some research of her own and had found that Tevos had been holding back from her. Her research had found that her older sister was born from Tevos and Aria. The documents stated that the mother was Aria, but Tevos was the one who seemed to be protected during the time before the birth. If it was Aria then she'd have been under constant watch. Something smelt wrong about the information, but she couldn't find anything more. If Liselle was Tevos' daughter then why did they live separately? And why did Tevos seem to hate Aria as much as she did. She sighed as she opened her omnitool. On her omnitool several flightpaths to and from Omega were shown and a single line showed that Samara was one of the Justicar's deployed to kill her sister. Her eyes hardened as she clenched a fist.

"Siame?" Liara said sitting down next to her.

"Samara was one of the Justicar sent after Liselle." Ralia said placing her head on Liara's shoulder  
"I know. What do you want from her?" Liara sighed out

"Answers." Ralia whispered.


	14. Chapter 14

James entered Liara's office with some trepidation. He could feel that his old friends were upset by something, he assumed at first that it was his absence for two years, but it wasn't until Garrus explained exactly an Ardat-Yakshi was to him that he knew the truth. They were uncomfortable with the topic of an Ardat-Yakshi, as any child they had could possibly be one. His heart ached for his friends at the thought that the two of them could possibly lose their child over something completely uncontrollable.

As the Justicar entered the room all movement ceased and Liara stared at the elegant Asari before her. With a sigh she stood and stepped into the Justicar's arms placing a singular kiss on the Justicar's cheek. The Justicar then repeated the action. Samara turned her eyes to Ralia who had not yet moved from the couch. Her eye rose for a moment before Liara cleared her throat.

"Ralia." Liara said her voice soft. Liara then motioned to Samara and Samara watched as Ralia folded her arms and refused to meet her eyes.

"Have I offended you? I am unaware if we have ever met. If we have and I hurt you, for that I am sorry."

"No we never met." Ralia spoke up. Her voice angry.

"Then I do not understand your reluctance."

"Justicar. You went to Omega two years back. Did you not?"

"Yes I did."

"You were there to kill the Ardat-Yakshi, Liselle T'Loak."

"Wait T'Loak? Ralia?" Garrus spoke up from behind the three Asari.

"My sister. You went to kill my sister, Justicar."

"I did no such thing. I was there hunting the same child I am now. I was not involved in the assault on your sister." Samara said calmly. She watched as the anger left Ralia's face before speaking again.

"Tell me you call her sister, but do you know who is Liselle T'Loak's mother? It is not Aria. It is Tevos. Your mother stole the child from Tevos. She became a criminal for her selfish act, she tore a family apart."

"You lie." Ralia yelled

"Why would I lie? Are you in some preconceived notion that your mother is a sister of the Goddess? She is an evil in this galaxy. And she needs to be put down." Samara said coldly.

"You do not know my mother!" Ralia screamed and she sprang up from her couch, her biotics flaring as she barreled into Samara. A small grunt from Samara was the only sound that came from the impact as Ralia's biotics were unstable and dissipated before she hit the Justicar. Samara's left hand reached out grabbing Ralia's arm and her eyes faded to black.

-Samara's mind-

Ralia was greeted with the sound of a small child screaming happily as her world faded to black. Slowly she could see a purple Asari child bouncing on her knee. She felt love blossom in chest at the small child in her lap. The world faded once more until the scene became and older version of the child hugging her. Behind the child was a dark blue Asari and a large vessel.

"Call me as often as you can." She said in a voice that was not her own

"Of course sister." The Purple Asari said

"I'll miss you Aria." She said placing her lips on Aria's crest

"And I you Samara." Aria said warmly before the world faded again.

Ralia was then greeted with the sound of gunfire as fire bloomed around her. Bodies slowly appeared around her and she could vaguely make out Aria standing above her. A gun was pointed at her head and Aria's eyes were cold staring at her.

"Aria." Her voice croaked. Blood filled her mouth and she coughed it out. She tried to stand but felt her body to weak to move. She could hear the sounds of sirens as the local police responded to the scene.

"May you find peace in the Goddess, sister." Aria's voice was cold and her finger pulled on the trigger. Nothing came forth and Aria growled lightly as she ejected the heat sink. Aria threw the gun away and bent down pulling her head into her hands. Her knee came crashing into Ralia's face and the world faded to black.

-Liara's office-

Ralia collapsed to the floor and in an instant the room exploded into movement. Liara ran to her lover and wrapped her in her arms. Garrus placed his pistol to Samara's head and James grabbed both of Samara's hands pulling her away from Ralia.

"What did you do to her?" Garrus snarled

"Showed her the truth of her mother. Ralia, your mother shot and killed the councilors two hundred years ago. She then stole the child bore from Tevos' love for her. That child is Liselle T'Loak." Samara said staring down at Ralia.

"I wish it were not the case for you little one. Your mother holds no love in her heart. She only sees what can be of use to her, and does not care for attachments. It may be prudent if I went to your ship now Shepard. Provided you still want me on your mission." Samara said

"Take her. Shepard." Ralia croaked out. Pushing Liara's arms off of her.

"Ralia-" Liara spoke

"I'm fine Li. Just please, Shepard take her with you. I do not wish to see her again." Ralia said and she left the room. Liara followed after her praying what ever was tormenting her lover would pass soon enough.

-Liara and Ralia's apartment-

Ralia paced back and forth in her apartment as she stared at her omnitool. A single press and she'd be calling Tevos. A single call and answers would come, wouldn't they? Ralia stopped and held a finger to the call and hovered just above her omnitool. Did she really want to know anymore? If Samara was telling the truth then her mother had stolen a child from Tevos, one of the greatest crimes in Asari culture. She knew her mother wasn't a sister of the Goddess, but she never thought her mother would steal children from their mothers. If she called Tevos what then? She'd learn the ugly truth about her mother? Could she even face it?

Liara watched her love pace in the apartment, a part of her prayed Samara was lying and that Tevos was too. She wanted to believe that Aria was a good person, Aria had always been kind to her. She couldn't rationalize this information Samara had provided. She couldn't rationalize that Aria would do such a thing. It wasn't like the situation with her own mother, her mother had done evil in order to stop a worse evil to befall the galaxy, and while she had fallen to indoctrination Benezia was still regarded as a hero. Aria was known to be a criminal, but to Ralia Aria was a hero. Aria was a knight in armor guarding Ralia from the evil of Omega. Liara's heart ached as she watched her love push down on her omnitool and a small display popped up.

"Ralia. It is good to hear from you. How is Ilium? How is Liara? Oh I was wondering if you'd be here soon. I was thinking of making dinner for you and Liara if you were." Tevos spoke up. Her form appeared before Ralia. Her questions were met with silence and Tevos stared forward.

"What is wrong Ralia? Something is upsetting you. Tell me Little One." Tevos said

"Li-Liselle T'Loak. You birthed her didn't you?" Ralia asked quietly. Tevos' eyes widened for a moment before she looked to the side.

"Yes. I birthed her." Tevos said softly

"And?"

"And Aria T'Loak stole her from me."

"You told me your daughter died! You lied to me"

"No. I said I lost a daughter before. I have never lied to you. Look come to the Citadel and I shall show you what happened that day."

"I-" Ralia spoke up before she looked down. Tears blossomed in her eyes and she could not find the words she wished to say. A hand found its place on her back and she turned to see Liara standing beside her. Liara leaned forward placing her lips on Ralia's cheek before she spoke up.

"We'll have to think on it Tevos. It has been a long day for us. Goodbye." Liara said before she reached forward pressing the button on Ralia's omnitool the display closed. Liara wrapped her arms around Ralia, pulling her deep into an embrace. Ralia collapsed pulling Liara down to the floor as tears overwhelmed her. Liara just sat holding her lover, praying that her lover would be ok.


End file.
